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ROMANCE  SWITZERLAND 


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ZKRMATr    AM)    'I'lfK    M  ATTF.R  HORN. 


ROMANCE  AND  TEUTONIC 
SWITZERLAND 


By 

W.  D.  McCrackan 

Author  of  "  The  Rise  of  the  Swiss  Republic,"  "  The  Fair 
Land  Tyrol,"  "The  Italian  Lakes,"  etc. 


In  Two  Volumes 

Volume  I. 

Romance  Switzerland 


^ew  Illustrated  Edition 


BOSTON   *   L.    C.    PAGE    & 
COMPANY    *    PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,     1894,    by 
Joseph  Knight  Company 

all    rights  reserved 


Sixth  Impression,  June,  1907 
Seventh  Impression,  April,  1910 


DC 


iS 


W         I   '^ 


J  -I  i  o 
v,  1 

CTfjts  Fnlume  is  Brttcateti 
TO    MY    DEAR    MOTHER 

IN    MEMORY    OF    MY   CHILDHOOD 

AT   VEVEY 


PREFACE. 


T  ET  me  say  at  once  that  I  have  no 
-^  desire  to  inflict  another  guide-book 
of  Switzerland  upon  the  tourist  public.  It 
is  not  my  ambition  to  rival  the  inimitable 
Baedeker,  but  rather  to  supplement  that 
work  with  portable  companions,  which  shall 
add  historical  and  biographical  details 
to  each  place,  and  suggest  local  color 
and  atmosphere.  These  little  volumes 
on  Romance  and  Teutonic  Switzerland 
are  intended  to  amplify  and  elucidate,  by 
a  series  of  pen  pictures,  what  mere  guide- 
books can  only  indicate.  For  this  reason, 
the  harrowing  details  of  hotels  and  trains 
are  religiously  avoided.  No  tariffs  of 
prices,  no  discussions  about  extra  candles 


or  vin  cotnpf'is,  are  tolerated;  especially  no 
time-tables,  with  their  snioky  and  stuffy 
memories.  Who  fares  with  me  7>iust 
travel  fancy  free  ! 

Lest  some  readers  should  have  their 
expectations  unduly  raised  at  the  start  by 
this  name,  '■  Romance,''  given  to  the  first 
volume,  I  must  explain  that  the  term  is 
applied  to  those  parts  of  Switzerland, 
where  Roman,  or  Latin,  infiuences  have 
remained  uppermost;  that  is,  to  French 
and  Italian  Switzerland  and  the  Enga- 
dine.  If  there  be  any  latent  romantic 
element  in  these  chapters,  it  is  doubtless 
due  to  the  fact  that  "  truth  is  stranger 
than   fiction.'' 

It  is  often  a  source  of  genuine  disap- 
pointment to  the  traveller,  to  find  the  Swiss 
mountaineers  so  different  from  what  he 
had  expected.  He  supposes  that,  living  in 
the  midst  of  magnificent  scenery,  they  must 
be  romantically  inclined,  venturesome  for 
the  sake  of  adventure,  and  at  all  times  and 


PREFACE.  IX 

in  all  places  picturesque.  He  sets  up  ctn 
imaginary  type.  Every  beauty  in  Nature, 
he  argues,  should  somehow  be  reflected  by 
a  corresponding  good  quaffty  in  man.  But 
he  forgets  that,  if  scenery  leaves  traces 
upon  character,  so  do  privation,  overwork, 
and  bad  food. 

To  be  quite  frank,  the  Swiss,  as  a  whole, 
are  tlie  most  practical,  matter-of-factj  and 
commofl-place  people  in  the  world. 

They  are  hardy,  industrious,  and  deeplv 
attached  to  their  native  soil.  Above  a!!, 
they  are  possessed  of  an  inborn  talent  for 
self-government.  It  would  be  resorting  to 
unworthy  flattery,  to  describe  them  as  a 
handsome  race,  whether  we  speak  of  Ger- 
man, French,  Italian,  or  Romansch  Switzer- 
land. In  fact,  good  looks  are  not  common, 
and  real  beauty  is  actually  rare.  If  the 
Swiss  people  were  what  the  tourist  would 
like  them  to  be,  merely  picturesque,  they 
would  long  ago  have  been  absorbed  by  the 
great   powers  upon  their  borders,  and  the 


X  PREFACE. 

mission  of  Switzerland,  to  provide  a  neu- 
tral territory  in  the  midst  of  Europe,  would 
never  have  been  fulfilled. 

Pray,  therefore,  divest  your  minds  of 
any  lingering,  high-flown  impressions  about 
chamois-hunters  posing  on  the  brink  of 
precipices,  in  sentimental  attitudes.  Do 
not  imagine  that  every  Swiss  wears  a  long 
feather  in  his  cap;  that  all  the  girls  are 
bewitching  in  brilliant  costumes,  or  are 
likely  to  worry  about  your  safety,  like  the 
maiden  in  Longfellow's  "Excelsior,"  when 
she  saw  the  youth  pass  through  her  village 
with  his  remarkable  banner.  Switzerland 
is  not  at  all  like  a  costume  ball. 

The  point  of  view  in  these  volumes  is 
almost  invariably  from  below  the  snow  line. 
Those  who  climb  into  the  serene  heights 
do  not  need  to  have  their  sensations  re- 
hearsed for  them,  nor,  it  stands  to  reason, 
can  there  be  much  history,  biography,  or 
popular  character  to  describe  up  there,  on 
the  silent  wastes  of  snow. 


PREFACE.  XI 

I  have  put  into  these  two  volumes  what- 
ever seemed  true,  and  therefore  worthiest, 
after  an  acquaintance  with  Switzerland  of 
many  years,  extending  from  my  childhood 
to  the  present  time,  having  but  recently 
finished  the  special  studies  undertaken  in 
connection  with  my  history,  "  The  Rise  of 
the  Swiss  Republic." 

As  it  is  intended  to  keep  these  chapters 
at  all  times  up  to  date,  I  beg  those  who 
read  them  to  forward  me  any  suggestions, 
or  corrections,  they  may  deem  expedient ; 
and  to  do  this,  whether  in  the  character  of 
sojourners  in  the  land,  or  leisurely  saunter- 
Ms,  or  merely  hurrying  tourists. 

W.  D.  McCRACKAN. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

I.    Geneva i 

11.    The  Taming  of  Mont  Blanc  .      20 

III.  Rousseau,  Voltaire,  and  Ma- 

dame DE  Stael 30 

IV.  Brief  Biographies  :  Calvin,  De 

Saussure,      Mallet-Di-'pan, 

SlSMONDI,      ToPFFER,      AMIEL, 
.\NI>    MONNIER 57 

V.    The  Tour  of  Lake  Leman  .    .      82 
VI.    Two  ViNEY.A  KD  Towns  of  Vaud  : 

Lausanne  and  Vevey  ...      95 
VII.    Off  the  Tourist  Track  :  Some 
Hill   Towns,  A    Forgotten 
Capital,    Two    Burgundian 

Battlefields 115 

VIII.    Neuchatel.      Swiss-American 

Scientists 137 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

IX.    Fribourg  and  Romont    ...  159 
X.    The     Land    and    Castle    of 

Gruyere 171 

XL    In  and  Out  the  Valais  ...  188 

XII.    Storming  the  Matterhorn     .  214 

XIII.  Locarno  and  Lugano  ....  225 

XIV.  Chur  and  the  Engadine    .    .  242 

Index 253 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Zermatt  and  the  Matterhorn 

Frotiftspicce 

Geneva .  2 

Mont  Blanc 20 

Chateau  Voltaire,  at  Ferney  .         .  42 

Lake  Leman 82 

Lausanne SS 

Vevey 112 

Fribourg 160 

St.  Maurice 193 

Pissevache  Waterfall         .         .        .196 

Martigny 198 

Hospice  of  St.  Bernard      .        .        .  200 

The  Matterhorn 216 

Madonna  del  Sasso      ....  230 

Lugano 234 

Davos 24S 

Volume  I 


ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 


CHAPTER   I. 

GENEVA. 


WHEN  the  keen,  fair-weather  bise  blows 
from  the  northeast,  Geneva  and  its 
adjacent  hillsides  look  as  though  they  had 
been  washed  clean.  An  incredible  pur- 
ity of  atmosphere  and  brilliancy  of  color 
throws  the  city,  mountains,  and  lake-shores 
into  relief ;  while  an  air  which  stimulates  to 
boundless  enterprise  passes  through  the 
streets,  across  the  bridges,  and  into  the 
vineyards  and  fields. 

From  the  end  of  the  stone  jetty  in  the 
harbor,  where  some  benches  under  spread- 
ing shade-trees  invite  meditation,  the  out- 
look on  all  sides  is  exceedingly  noble.  The 
old  town  of  Calvin's  day  rises  in  a  heaped 
conglomeration,  pile  on  pile,  to  the  cathe- 
dral towers  ;  bridges  span  the  Rhone, 
that  shoots  from  the  lake  in  a  blue-green 
flood  ;    on    the    water-front,    a    stretch    of 


2  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

foliage  denotes  the  Jardin  Anglais,  and 
the  lateral  quays  are  lined  with  hotels  and 
apartment-houses,  white  with  the  chalky 
glare  peculiar  to  Geneva.  Beyond  the 
utmost  limits  of  the  Canton,  rise  the  cir- 
cling hills  of  the  Jura,  the  Saleve,  and  the 
Voirons,  their  every  detail  microscopically 
revealed  in  this  crystal  air. 

On  such  days,  the  lake  appears  ruffled 
into  impossible  colors,  shading  off  from 
Prussian  blue  to  indigo,  from  gay  irides- 
cence to  angry  intensity.  On  either  hand, 
the  shore  lines  stand  out  clear  and  crisp,  as 
far  as  Nyon  in  the  Canton  of  Vaud  and 
Bellerive  in  Savoy.  It  must  have  been  the 
vividness  of  a  genuine  bise  day  which  made 
Mr.  Howells  somewhat  pitilessly  describe 
Geneva  as  "  an  admirable  illustration 
printed  in  colors,  for  a  holiday  number,  to 
imitate  a  water-color  sketch."  And  yet 
what  a  change  comes  over  the  physiognomy 
of  the  city,  when  the  south  wind  blows! 
How  gray  the  water  turns,  and  how  sadly 
the  heavy,  vapory  atmosphere  shuts  off  the 
lake-views ! 

Then,  too,  from  the  jetty  as  a  point  of 
vantage,  the  life  of  the  harbor,  bridges,  and 


GENEVA.  3 

quays  is  amply  seen.  As  the  steamboats 
come  and  go,  fine-toned  bells  swing  mu- 
sically in  their  bows,  —  such  bells  as  are 
heard  on  all  Swiss  lakes.  Lumbering, 
black-hulled  barges,  laden  with  wood  or 
building  stone,  bear  down  upori  the  city, 
their  lateen  sails  spread  wing-a-wing  like 
monster  butterflies.  There  is  a  hurrying 
to  and  fro  over  the  bridge  of  the  Mont 
Blanc,  where  business  and  pleasure  jostle 
each  other.  Nurses  and  children,  however, 
hold  undisputed  possession  of  the  Island  of 
Rousseau,  as  by  some  unwritten  law,  while 
in  their  midst  the  unheeding  statue  of  the 
author  of  "  Emile  "  rests  upon  its  pedestal 
under  the  shade-trees.  He  sits  pencil  in 
hand,  this  philosopher,  ever  ready  to  write 
upon  his  tablet,  although  for  all  these  many 
years  no  new  idea  has  come  to  him. 

But  the  crowning  marvel  of  this  region 
will  always  be  Mont  Blanc,  if  it  be  our 
good-fortune  to  find  it  uncovered.  Gen- 
erally the  mountain  looks  almost  as  ethereal 
and  impalpable  as  the  fluffy  clouds  which 
drift  about  it.  After  a  fall  of  snow,  however, 
Mont  Blanc  suggests  a  giant  bowl  of 
whipped  cream,  soft  and  sweet,  as  though 


4  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

one  could  easily  bite  into  it.  On  clear 
evenings,  moreover,  it  passes  through  tints 
of  sunset  pinks  and  pale  orange,  fading 
finally  into  a  peculiarly  horrible  colorlcss- 
ness,  which  is  gray  and  ghastly  by  contrast 
with  the  preceding  splendor. 

What  impresses  one  most  at  first  about 
Geneva  is  its  cosmopolitan  gayety,  —  prob- 
ably because  so  much  has  been  written  in 
the  past  about  the  influence  of  Calvinism  in 
fostering  long-faced  austerity.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  Geneva  is,  in  summer  at  any  rate,  a 
veritable  holiday  town;  not  to  speak  of 
the  string  bands  that  play  before  the  caf^s 
every  night,  and  the  chafiteuses  that  sing 
there,  dressed  with  an  airy  splendor  which 
is  almost  Parisian,  hardly  a  week  passes 
without  some  general  public  fete.  And 
then  the  Sundays !  Surely  they  must 
disturb  the  great  Reformer  in  his  last 
resting-place,  for  the  people  seem  so  art- 
lessly happy  in  their  amusements.  When 
the  orchestra  of  the  Society  Nautique  plays 
in  the  Jardin  Anglais  of  an  evening,  the 
harbor  becomes  dotted  with  little  boats, 
each  carrying  a  Chinese  lantern  that  casts 


GENEVA.  5 

trailing  reflections  upon  the  water.  It  is 
then  that  the  great  water-jet,  created  by  the 
force  of  the  Rhone,  plays  into  the  night 
air,  artificially  illuminated  by  an  electric 
contrivance  of  many  colors.  As  for  the 
Venetian  nights,  in  which  Geneva  indulges 
from  time  to  time,  everybody  agrees  that 
they  are  fairy-like,  and  cost  a  good  deal  of 
money. 

Nobody  can  accuse  the  Genevese  washer 
women  of  Calvinistic  taciturnity.  They 
have  several  floating  houses  made  fast  to 
the  banks  of  the  river  Rhone,  and  there 
they  spend  the  day,  soaping  and  pounding 
their  linen  on  the  boards  in  front  of  them, 
chatting  incessantly  as  only  washerwomen 
can.  No  matter  how  loud  the  Rhone  may 
roar,  as  it  escapes  from  the  sluice-gates  at 
the  Pont  de  la  Machine,  these  ladies  of  the 
laundry  can  always  make  themselves  heard. 
The  choicest  bits  of  gossip  are  never  lost 
in  the  turmoil  of  the  waters. 

When  the  cold  weather  comes,  Geneva 
receives  flocks  of  beautiful  and  mysterious 
visitors.  These  gulls  hail  apparently  from 
the  Mediterranean,  along  with  the  lateen 
sails  of  the  barges.     It  is  quite  the  fashion 


6  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND, 

to  go  out  on  the  l)ridgc  of  tlie  Mont  Blanc 
to  feed  them,  for  they  will  catch  a  piece  of 
bread  in  the  air  as  neatly  as  you  like,  and 
their  screamin,'^  and  an_a;ry  pecking  is  at 
once  disgraceful  and  delightful. 

But  for  all  this  frivolous  modernness, 
Geneva  still  holds  many  remnants  of 
antiquity  for  the  sight-scer.  There  is  a  new 
quarter  and  an  old;  you  can  take  your 
choice.  On  the  hill  stands  the  Cathedral 
of  St.  Peter,  to  which  ancient  and  steep 
little  streets  give  access  from  below. 
Architecturally  speaking,  the  building  is  a 
mixture  of  many  styles,  with  Gothic  pre- 
dominating. The  facade,  however,  is 
decidedly  spoiled  by  a  peristyle  of  six 
Corinthian  columns,  supporting  a  Pantheon- 
like dome.  Otherwise  the  noble  lines  of 
the  original  design  can  still  be  appreciated 
at  the  back,  where  two  massive  flanking 
towers,  and  a  smaller  central  one,  stand 
forth  handsomely  above  the  bulging  choir. 
The  newly  restored  Chapel  of  the  Macca- 
bees is  also  admirable  in  its  Gothic  beauty  ; 
and  you  must  be  sure  to  sit  in  that  old 
chair  of  Calvin's  which  stands  under  the 
pulpit,  in  order  to  fulfil  your  duty  as  a  con- 


scientious  sight-seer.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion about  the  antiquity  of  the  cathedral 
site,  for  remnants  of  two  older  churches 
have  been  discovered  beneath  the  present 
building. 

On  Sundays,  the  solemn  cathedral  square 
becomes  almost  gay  with  the  gathering 
congregation,  exchanging  decorous  civili- 
ties. The  bright  dresses  of  young  girls 
help  to  relieve  the  rather  bare  and  forbid- 
ding aspect  of  the  interior,  while  slow, 
measured,  full-toned  chorals  rise  to  the 
vaulted  ceiling  in  majestic  cadences. 
Church  attendance  is  with  many  Genevese 
more  of  a  patriotic  practice  than  a  religious 
function.  They  consider  it  an  act  of  tra- 
ditional respect  toward  that  great  past  when 
Geneva  was  the  Protestant  Rome ;  and  so 
when  the  preacher  turns  to  the  well-filled 
benches,  you  may  be  sure  that  he  will  lay 
little  stress  on  dogma  and  doctrine,  but 
rather  content  himself  with  inculcating 
morality. 

Near  the  cathedral  are  several  old  streets 
bearing  pre-Reformation  names.  There  is 
a  Rue  du  Cloitre,  and  another  ,de  I'Evechd. 
In  the  same  quarter,  too,  is  the  Rue  Calvin, 


S  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

The  Reformer  lived  from  1541  to  1543  a* 
No.  II,  and  then  moved  to  No.  13,  where 
he  died  in  1564.  Rousseau's  birthplace  is 
No.  40  Grand'  Rue.  Farther  down  the 
hill,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  quaint 
Church  of  the  Madeleine,  is  a  maze  of 
ancient  houses,  dank  and  unwholesome, 
where  the  streets  bear  such  realistic  names 
as  Rue  de  I'Enfer,  Rue  du  Purgatoire,  etc. 

Round  the  corner,  the  Hotel  de  Ville, 
lately  renovated,  make?  a  distinctly  pleas- 
ing impression.  Its  Florentine  style  is 
exceedingly  interesting.  On  the  street  side, 
you  will  notice  certain  wire-covered  frames 
hanging  against  the  wall.  Wait  a  little, 
and  you  will  be  sure  to  see  some  young 
girls  coming  up  to  peer  in  at  the  lists  of 
printed  names.  No  wonder;  for  it  is  here 
that  all  announcements  of  marriage  are 
officially  posted.  There  is  also  an  interior 
court  of  good  effect,  l:iut  especially  notice- 
able is  a  curious,  winding,  inclined  plane  to 
the  first  floor,  which  takes  the  place  of  a 
staircase,  so  that  the  magistrates  in  former 
days  could  ride  up  to  their  Assembly  Hall 
on  horseback,  or  be  carried  in  litters. 
Here,  too,  the  so-called  Alabama  Chamber 


GENEVA.  9 

may  be  visited,  where  the  famous  decision 
was  given  in  1872. 

Nothing  could  be  more  aristocratically 
exclusive,  and  yet  accessible,  than  the 
position,  here  on  the  hill,  of  the  hotels 
of  famous  Genevese  families,  of  the  De 
Saussure,  De  la  Rive,  Necker,  De  Sellon, 
and  others.  The  entrances  are  along  the 
Rue  de  la  Cit6  and  the  Rue  des  Granges, — 
narrow  and  steep  streets,  — but  at  the  back, 
these  mansions  possess  the  most  delightful 
of  garden  terraces  with  prospects  over 
the  high  wall  of  the  Corraterie  and  the 
Promenade  de  la  Treille. 

In  the  matter  of  museums,  Geneva, 
though  well  supplied,  needs  some  central 
repository,  like  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 
in  Neuchatel.  There  is  the  Mus^e  Rath, 
containing  pictures,  casts,  etc.,  the  Mus^e 
Fol  with  its  archceological  odds  and  ends, 
the  Ath^n^e,  where  periodic  exhibitions  of 
paintings  are  held,  and  the  Ariana,  the 
gift  of  the  late  Gustave  Revilliod,  full  of 
treasures  superbly  housed,  not  to  mention 
the  curiosities  in  the  public  library  and  the 
arsenal.  These  collections  would  exert  a 
greater  educational  influence  if  they  were 


lO  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

not  dispersed.  The  cost  of  their  mainte- 
nance, too,  would  be  considerably  reduced 
by  common  management. 

Numerous  statues  and  busts  adorn 
Geneva;  but,  by  some  strange  irony,  there 
is  not  one  of  Calvin  to  be  found,  high  or  low. 
It  seems  unaccountable.  Rousseau,  to  be 
sure,  has  been  remembered,  and  an  island 
set  apart  for  his  glorification.  Still,  even 
his  monument  does  not  make  as  much 
show  as  that  of  a  foreign  benefactor  of  the 
city,  Duke  Charles  II.  of  Brunswick,  who, 
dying  in  1873,  ^'^^^  Geneva  twenty  million 
francs,  and  thus  made  possible  the  fine 
opera-house  and  other  luxurious  improve- 
ments. The  monument  of  this  Prince 
stands  in  the  Place  des  Alpes,  and  is 
copied  after  the  tomb  of  the  Scaligeri  in 
Verona.  It  is  a  costly,  sumptuous,  and 
highly  ornamental  piece  of  work  ;  but,  as 
Mr.  Howells  aptly  remarks,  "  You  must 
still  go  to  Verona  to  see  the  tombs  of  the 
Scaligeri." 

Of  other  statues  not  much  can  be  said. 
The  group  of  two  heroic  female  figures, 
representing  Helvetia  and  Geneva,  near  the 
Jardin  Anglais,  suffers,  as  all  such  works  do, 


from  clumsiness,  along  with  the  Bavaria  at 
Munich,  and  the  Liberty  in  New  York 
harbor.  A  David  by  Chaponniere,  in  the 
Promenade  des  Bastions,  is  pleasing ; 
Dufour's  equestrian  statue  in  the  Place 
Neuve  does  not  rise  above  mediocrity ; 
and  the  busts  of  various  Gencvese  celebri- 
ties in  different  parts  of  the  citv  arc  said  to 
be  at  least  good  characteristic  likenesses. 

But  what  about  educational  facilities  ? 
One  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  efforts 
made  by  Geneva  to  perfect  its  scheme  of 
public  instruction.  More  than  a  quarter 
of  the  annual  budget  is  devoted  to  this 
purpose.  In  fact,  not  the  least  interesting 
features  of  the  city,  even  for  a  casual  visitor, 
are  the  University  and  the  influence  which 
it  radiates. 

If  one  were  to  search  for  the  hall-mark, 
the  characteristic  temper,  of  this  University 
of  Geneva,  it  would  be  found  in  its  cos- 
mopolitan scholarship,  its  combination  of 
German  seriousness  with  French  adapta- 
bility, of  liberality  in  thought  with  common 
sense  in  action.  The  lecture  system  is  in 
universal  use;    compL'te    liberty  is    left  to 


12  ROMANXE    SV/ITZERI  AND. 

the  students  in  tlie  clioice  of  courses . 
and  women  are  admitted  on  terms  ol 
absolute  equality  with  men.  Tlic  compara- 
•  tive  method  of  study  is  in  full  vogue;  and 
the  relation  l)et\veen  the  jjrofessors  and 
the  students  very  nearly  resembles  that 
good-humored,  co-operative  comradeship 
which  is  one  of  the  chief  charms  of  the 
smaller  American  colleges.  Moreover,  by 
a  series  of  free  lectures  on  winter  evenings, 
given  by  distinguished  specialists,  the  ques- 
tion of  University  Extension  has  to  a  great 
extent  been  solved  in  Geneva. 

In  1892,  the  number  of  students  rose  to 
over  six  hundred,  thus  exceeding  that  in 
attendance  at  any  other  Swiss  university, 
whether  Basel,  liern,  Ziirich,  or  Lausanne. 
In  regard  to  nationality,  there  are  always  a 
great  many  Russians,  with  a  strong  contin- 
gent of  women  in  their  midst,  also  a  good 
many  Bulgarians  and  Greeks.  Even  in 
holidav-time,  these  foreign  students  may  be 
seen  in  the  adjacent  public  library,  their 
dark  faces  bent  in  the  eager  pursuit  of  the 
learning  they  have  come  so  far  to  acquire. 
In  point  of  fact,  no  educational  summary 
of  Geneva  would  be  complete  without  men- 


GEXEVA.  13 

tion  of  this  magnificent  free  library,  with  its 
one  hundred  thousand  volumes  and  sixteen 
hundred  manuscripts,  founded  centuries 
ago  by  Bonivard,  the  prisoner  of  Chillon. 
The  writer  has  reason  to  speak  highly  of 
its  usefulness  in  the  study  of  local  history. 

Of  course  Geneva  possesses  the  usual 
complement  of  grade  schools,  the  most 
interesting  of  which  is  the  College  St. 
Antoine,  dating  from  the  time  of  Calvin. 
Its  building  deserves  to  rank  among  the 
most  picturesque  of  the  old  city.  Of  spe- 
cial industrial  and  art  schools  there  is  an 
astonishing  supply.  Music,  too,  is  studied 
with  enthusiasm  at  the  Conservatory.  M. 
Edouard  Rod  goes  so  far  as  to  aver  that, 
••  In  summer,  with  the  orchestras  in  the 
<:af6s,  the  street-organs  in  the  open  air,  and 
the  sounds  of  pianos  and  songs  issuing 
from  open  windows,  Geneva  suggests  one 
of  those  music-boxes  which  it  manufactures 
so  extensively."* 

It  is  well  to  care  for  the  arts  and  to  fur- 
ther popular  instruction  ;  but  it  is  even  more 
necessary  to  stimulate  industrial  enterprise 

*  Rod.  Edouard.  Geneve  —  Les  Capitales  du 
Monde.     Hachette  &  Co.:    Faii?.      1S92. 


14  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND, 

and  insure  good  trade  returns.  In  one 
respect,  Geneva  may  well  serve  as  a  model 
to  all  progressive,  commercial  communities. 
It  has  put  itself  in  possession  of  one  of  the 
most  effective  and  least  expensive  manu- 
facturing agents  to  be  found  in  the  world. 
This  consists  simply  in  the  utilization  of  the 
Vvfater-power  of  the  rapid  Rhone  upon  an 
elaborate  scale.  Nowhere  else  has  any- 
thing like  it  been  attempted,  unless  the 
recently  opened  v/orks  pt  Frankfurt  in  Ger- 
many, and  the  projected  ones  at  Niagara, 
may  be  taken  as  examples.  As  early  as 
1620,  the  current  was  made  to  turn  primi- 
tive turbines;  but  in  1S86  the  magnificent 
stone,  iron,  and  glass  palace  of  the  Forces 
Motrices  was  formally  inaugurated.  Built 
by  the  eminent  city  engineer,  Turretini,  at 
the  expense  of  the  united  citizens,  and 
managed  by  the  municipalit)^,  these  indus- 
^:rial  water-works  deserve  to  stand  as  an 
object-lesson  in  practical  co-operation. 

There  are  six  huge  turbines  and  founda- 
tions for  fourteen  more.  Not  only  is  drink- 
ing-water supplied  to  the  whole  city  by  this 
means,  but  hydraulic  power  is  also  distrib- 
uted to  all  parts  through  pipes  under  heavy 


GENEVA.  15 

pressure,  and  rented  to  users  at  low  rates. 
Forty-two  hundred  liorse-powei  is  tnus  at 
disposal  for  the  use  of  manufactories. 

An  era  of  industrial  aggrandizement 
would  thus  seem  to  await  Geneva.  Unfor- 
tunately, another  factor  mars  the  bright 
prospect.  That  is  the  protective  policy  of 
France,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  Switzer- 
land on  the  other. 

Geographically  speaking,  Geneva  is  well 
placed  to  become  a  great  industrial  centre. 
All  it  needs  is  free  play  and  access  to  its 
natural  markets.  If  those  are  cut  off  by 
customs  duties,  stagnation  ensues.  All  the 
motive-power  in  the  world  cannot  counter- 
act this  inflexible  law.  What  is  known  as 
the  zone  in  Savoy  is  too  slight  a  concession 
to  the  city's  demands,  for  Geneva  is  the 
normal  emporium  of  a  large  district  extend- 
ing far  into  France.  At  present,  therefore, 
the  city  presents  the  pathetic  spectacle  of  a 
city  swept  and  garnished,  waiting  for  an 
opportunity  to  use  its  resources. 

This  comparative  stagnation  of  industry 
is  certainly  not  due  to  any  want  of  skill  or 
lack  of  inventive  faculty  on  the  part  of 
Genevese  workmen.     In  certain  specialties 


l6  ROMANXE   SWITZERLAND. 

their  light  touch  is  unrivalled,  especially  in 
articles  of  luxury,  depending  upon  the 
exact  sciences,  such  as  watchmaking,  enam- 
elling, and  manufacturing  of  musical  boxes. 
It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  stem- 
winding  attachment  of  modern  watches  is 
a  Genevese  invention. 

In  the  past,  Geneva  also  had  its  famous 
enamellers,  like  Turquet  de  Mayern  and 
Fetitot,  whose  work  is  highly  prized  by 
collectors.  As  for  musical  boxes,  they 
have  been  brought  to  such  perfection  that 
the  mechanism  may  be  hidden  in  all  sorts 
of  articles  of  furniture,  or  in  utensils  of 
daily  use.  You  sit  down  upon  a  chair,  and 
it  begins  to  play  the  "  Swan  Song"  out  of 
*'  Lohengrin ; "  when  you  take  up  a  hand- 
mirror,  it  rolls  off  a  waltz  in  your  face ;  and 
a  decanter  sings  a  drinking-song,  as  you 
pour  out  wine.  Artificial  nightingales 
warble  from  cages  or  bowers,  with  the  true, 
caressing  notes  of  the  real  bird.  But  the 
latest  developments  of  this  art  are  monster 
orchestrions,  supplied  with  all  the  tones  of 
great  church  organs,  of  brass  bands,  or  of 
mixed  orchestras,  playing  the  best  classical 
music   automatically,  yet  with  a  perfected 


GENEVA.  17 

human  touch   which   makes   them   almost 
uncanny. 

In  estimating  the  Genevese  character, 
tlie  genuine  local  type,  one  must  not  accept 
too  readily  the  judgments  of  writers  of  the 
past,  who  knew  the  city  only  in  its  days  of 
religious  intolerance.  Modern  Geneva  has 
practically  emancipated  itself  from  this 
influence,  since  the  overthrow  of  the  native 
oligarchy,  which  supported  Calvinistic  prin- 
ciples out  of  respect  for  tradition. 

As  a  rule,  French  critics  reproached  the 
place  with  being  dull,  the  people  with  lack- 
ing manners  and  gayety.  On  the  other 
hand,  John  Milton,  journeying  from  Italy, 
thought  that  he  had  strayed  into  the  ideal, 
theocratic  state  of  his  dreams,  his  pattern 
Puritan  commonwealth.  Neither  Goethe 
nor  Victor  Hugo  liked  Geneva.  The  for- 
mer saw  it  in  1779,  when  it  still  stood 
sombre  within  its  walls,  and  the  latter  in 
1839,  at  a  time  when  it  was  putting  on  the 
first  garish  coat  of  modernness. 

There  is  nothing  more  amusing  for  a 
stranger  than  to  notice  the  opinion  which 
other  cantons  of  French  Switzerland  enter- 
2 


1 8  ROxMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

tain  of  the  Genevese.  In  Lausanne  and 
Neuchatel,  you  will  hear  them  described  as 
Frenchified  and  )iio7idaiiis,  —  intelligent,  of 
course,  but  stiff  and  proud.  Under  this  pro- 
vocation, it  is  only  natural  that  the  Genevese 
should  retort  by  calling  their  neighbors 
stolid  and  f'-r^j-.f/ivj,  —  good,  honest  people, 
of  course,  but  somewhat  unpolished. 

The  truth  is  that  Geneva  is  the  least 
Swiss  of  all  the  cantons.  The  Genevese 
have  less  of  that  rugged  quality  which  is, 
in  some  measure,  an  unfailing  ingredient  in 
the  Swiss  character.  They  are  also  far- 
ther removed  from  the  mountains  than  the 
others.  Uut  scratch  the  frivolous  French 
skin  of  the  Genevese,  and  you  will  find  the 
serious  substratum  of  the  Teuton.  Inven- 
tive, facile,  and  of  an  independent  disposi- 
tion, the  average  Genevese  is  also  strongly 
introspective  and  thorough.  He  is  radical 
in  thcor\-,  but  conservative  in  practice  ;  he 
is  at  once  essentially  progressive,  and  yet 
bound  by  preconceptions  inherited  from  the 
past.  In  former  times,  the  continual  danger 
of  Savoyard  aggression  rendered  the  Gene- 
vese citizens  tenacious  and  combative  :  the 
firm  rule  of  Calvinism  gave  them  precisiou 


GKXEVA.  ig 

And  pedantry.  In  the  modern  type,  these 
qualities  can  still  be  traced,  softened  by 
contact  with  cosmopolitan  conditions. 

Who  can  tell  what  will  be  the  future 
of  a  community  thus  endowed !  Geneva 
stands  on  the  confines  of  P'rcnch,  German, 
and  Italian  influences.  Shall  they  continue 
to  struggle  for  the  mastery  as  heretofore, 
and  produce  an  original,  local  character 
like  the  present  one  ?  Or  shall  one  of  these 
elements  absorb  the  others  ?  Mr.  Howells 
has  dubbed  Geneva  "a  small  moralized 
Bostonian  Paris,'' — rather  a  promising 
combination.  At  any  rate,  tlie  prevailing 
aspiration  in  Geneva  is  for  the  retention 
of  a  distinct  personality.  No  one  has 
expressed  this  sterling  spirit  in  better  lines 
than  M.  Henri  Fnzy.  ''  Let  us  maintain 
within  us,'"  he  writes,  "'the  sentiment  of  our 
national  individuality,  and  to  this  end  pre- 
serve carefully  that  indepeii.u.-nce  of  mind 
and  manner  which  has  been  for  four  cen- 
turies one  of  the  distinctive  traits  of  the 
Genevese  character."  * 

*  Fazy,  Henri.  Les  Constitutions  de  la  Repub- 
/ique  de  Geneve.     Geneva.     1S90.     p.  2S6. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  TAMING  OF  MONT  BLANC. 

STRICTLY  speaking,  Mont  Blanc  is  not 
in  Switzerland  at  all,  since  it  lies  on 
the  boundary  between  PVench  Savoy  and 
Italy;  but  the  Genevese,  who  have  the  view 
of  it  every  fine  morning  from  their  windows, 
cannot  quite  make  up  their  minds  that  the 
great  show-piece  does  not  belong  to  them. 
Besides,  is  it  not  written  in  the  guide-books 
that  all  well-regulated  tourists  approach  the 
"  monarch  of  European  mountains  "  from 
the  Swiss  side  ? 

We  are  now  so  much  in  the  habit  of 
resorting  to  the  mountains  for  a  summer 
outing,  that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize 
that  mountaineering,  as  a  pastime,  is  a 
purely  modern   affair. 

The  ancients  apparently  had  no  senti- 
ment for  the  beauty  of  Alpine  scenery, 
no  enthusiasm  for  its  ineffable  glories,  or 


THE    TAMING    OF    .MOXT    BLAXC.  21 

longing  for  its  serene  pleasures.  Greek 
and  Roman  literature  contains  many  refer- 
ences to  the  Alps ;  but  mention  is  made 
only  of  the  dangers  to  be  incurred,  —  the 
avalanches,  precipices,  and  torrents.  The 
Alps  were  considered  simply  as  obstacles 
to  traffic  and  transportation,  full  of  hard- 
ships and  terrors,  to  be  shunned,  and  not 
to  be  crossed,  except  under  the  stress  of 
dire  necessity.  The  populations  of  the 
plains  invested  their  peaks  with  all  sorts 
of  superstitions,  peopled  their  valleys  and 
ravines  with  monsters,  and  their  caverns 
with  dragons.  As  for  anybody  travelling 
over  them  for  pleasure,  climbing  their 
summits  for  a  view,  or  spending  the  sum- 
mer in  their  upland  valleys  for  the  air, 
such  conduct  would  have  been  considered 
madness. 

In  point  of  fact,  men  first  crossed  tlie 
Alps  either  as  soldiers  or  merchants. 
Ilannibal's  passage  showed  that  they  were 
practicable  even  for  large  armies,  while 
Julius  Caesar's  conquest  of  the  Helvetii  did 
much  to  familiarize  the  Romans  with  Alpine 
passes.  After  the  advent  of  Christianity, 
came  travelling  missionaries  and  multitudes 


22  ROMAN'CR    SWITZERLAND. 

of  pilgrims  from  Northern  Europe,  bound 
for  Rome.  Tliroughout  the  Middle  Ages, 
the  German  emperors  also  crossed  repeat- 
edly with  large  detachments  of  followers. 

But  there  is  no  record  of  any  ascent 
being  made  of  an  Alpine  peak  until  com- 
paratively recent  times,  unless  it  be  Leo- 
nardo da\'inci's  climb  up  Mount  Monboso, 
as  he  calls  it,  in  the  Maritime  Alps. 

]\Iont  Blanc,  with  a  summit  15.730  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  was  not  ascended 
until  1786.  In  that  year,  it  was  success- 
fully scaled  by  an  inhabitant  of  the  Valley 
of  Chamonix,  a  chamois-hunter,  named 
Jacques  Balmat.  A  most  complete  account 
of  this  famous  first  ascent  has  been  pre- 
served for  us  by  Alexandre  Dumas,  the 
elder,  who  visited  Chamonix  in  1S33,  '^^d 
wrote  down  the  story  as  he  heard  it  from 
Balmat  himself,  then  an  old  man  of  seventy- 
two  years. 

It  appears  that  the  Genevese  naturalist, 
De  Saussure.  had  offered  a  large  reward  to 
the  first  man  who  should  reach  the  top. 
Balmat  was  twenty-five  at  the  time,  excep- 
tionally hardy,  and  experienced  in  mountain 
craft.     First,  he  studied  Mont  Blanc  from 


THE   TAMING   OF    MOXT    BLANC.  23 

many  sides,  in  order  to  find  a  way  to  the 
summit.  On  one  occasion  he  spent  three 
successive  nights  in  the  snow,  unsheltered 
and  at  great  altitudes,  only  to  be  driven 
back  unsuccessful,  by  a  change  in  the 
weather. 

Undaunted  by  repeated  failures,  he  re- 
turned to  the  charge  three  weeks  later,  on 
the  8th  of  August,  17S6.  This  time  he  was 
accompanied  by  Dr.  Paccard,  the  local 
practitioner.  They  left  Chamonix  at  five 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  trying  to  elude 
observation.  That  night  was  spent  on 
the  mountain  ;  and  next  morning  the  two 
climbers  started  for  the  top  at  two  o'clock. 
From  a  point  above  the  Petit-AIulet,  they 
perceived  the  villagers  assembled  below, 
watching  their  progress  with  telescopes. 
But  after  thev  had  advanced  a  little  far- 
ther, Dr.  Paccard  gave  out.  overcome  witli 
fatigue  and  cold.  Balmat,  however,  pushed 
on  to  the  top,  which  he  finally  reached  in 
a  state  of  great  exhaustion. 

He  described  his  sensations  to  Dumas 
in  the  following  words:  — 

"  I  was  walking  with  my  head  lowed 
down;    but  perceiving  that   I    was  upon  a 


24  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

point  wliich  I  did  not  recognize,  I  raised 
my  head,  and  saw  that  I  had  at  length 
reached  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc.  Then 
I  turned  my  eyes  about  me,  trembling  lest 
I  had  deceived  myself,  and  should  find 
some  Aiguille,  some  new  point,  for  I  should 
not  have  had  strength  to  climb  it;  the 
joints  of  my  legs  seemed  to  be  held  to- 
gether only  by  my  trousers.  But  no,  no  ;  I 
was  at  the  end  of  my  journey.  I  had 
arrived  there  where  no  one  had  been 
before,  not  even  the  eagle  and  the  chamois  ; 
I  had  arrived  alone,  without  other  assist- 
ance than  that  of  my  own  strength  and 
will;  all  that  surrounded  me  seemed  to 
belong  to  me;  I  was  the  King  of  Mont 
Blanc ;  I  was  the  statue  of  that  immense 
pedestal." 

Balmat  straightway  returned  to  Dr.  Pac- 
card,  whom  he  discovered  huddled  up  on 
the  snow,  more  dead  than  alive.  When  he 
had  succeeded  in  rousing  him,  he  forced 
him  to  mount  to  the  summit.  Tliey  reached 
it  at  six  1'.  M.,  and  then  descended  to  a 
place  below  the  snow-line,  where  they  speiit 
the  night.  Next  morning.  Dr.  I'accard 
found  that  he  had  been  temporarily  blinded 


THE  TAMING  OF  MONT  BLANC.    25 

by  the  glare  of  the  snow,  and  so  he  was 
obliged  to  return  to  Chamonix  holding  on 
to  the  strap  of  Balmat's  knapsack.  Next 
year,  De  Saussure  made  the  ascent  with 
Balmat,  and  his  published  account  told  the 
world  of  the  subjugation  of  the  highest  of 
the  Alpine  giants. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  centenary  of  De 
Saussure's  ascent,  in  1887,  a  monument 
was  unveiled  at  Chamonix,  representing 
the  chamois-hunter  and  the  naturalist 
standing  on  a  great  block  of  stone.  Bal- 
mat is  pointing  eagerly  to  the  summit,  as 
though  urging  De  Saussure  to  make  the 
attempt.  Although  the  monument  is  any- 
thing but  impressive  in  itself,  its  position 
in  the  open  air,  at  the  foot  of  Mont  Blanc, 
with  Balmat  actually  pointing  to  the  visible 
summit,  lends  the  whole  a  certain  real- 
istic fitness. 

Mont  Blanc  is  now  ascended  almost 
daily  during  the  season.  It  is  one  of  the 
favorite  occupations  of  less  adventurous, 
or  perhaps  more  economical,  travellers  ta 
watch,  through  telescopes,  parties  of  climb- 
ers winding  slowly  ov;er  the  spotless  snow. 
A  man  with  a  large  glass  will  take  his  sta- 


26  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

tion  in  front  of  your  hotel,  and  hang  out  a 
sign,  informing  everybody  that  "persons 
are  visible  on  Mont  Blanc."  The  view 
from  the  top,  however,  is  apt  to  be  unsatis- 
factory, owing  partly  to  the  prevalence  of 
clouds,  and  partly  to  the  great  distance  of 
all  surrounding  objects.  The  trip  from 
Chamonix  and  back  is  usually  made  in 
three  days;  and  the  total  cost,  including 
guides,  porters,  and  provisions,  amounts  to 
about  fifty  dollars  a  person.  The  truth  is, 
many  people  are  more  afraid  of  the  ex- 
pense than  the  fatigue. 

In  the  summer  of  1893,  a  courageous 
French  scientist,  M.  Janssen,  at  last 
succeeded  in  establishing  a  small  observa- 
tory on  the  summit  of  Mont  lilanc.  The 
first  person,  apparently,  to  suggest  such  an 
undertaking  was  M.  Vallot,  an  Alpine 
climber,  who  actually  built  a  provisional 
one  below  the  summit. 

M.  Janssen's  building  was  constructed  at 
Meudon,  France,  and  transported  to  its 
position  by  porters  and  snow  trolleys  of 
special  make.  No  rock  foundation  could 
be  reached  after  deep  borings,  and  so  the 
whole  stands  upon  the  solid  snow.     The 


THE   TAMING   OF    MO-NT    BLANC.  27 

base  is  over  thirty  feet  long,  by  sixteen  feet 
wide.  The  open  frame\vorl<  of  wood  has 
the  form  of  a  truncated  pyramid  in  two 
stages,  and  the  rooms  inside  are  reached  by 
a  spiral  staircase.  The  roof  is  surrounded 
by  a  railing  and  serves  for  meteorological 
observations.  All  the  walls  of  the  rooms 
as  well  as  the  windows  are  double,  and  the 
latter  can  be  closed  by  air-tight  shutters. 
Provision  is  made  for  keeping  the  observa- 
tory vertical  in  case  the  snow  of  tlie 
foundation  should  lose  its  level,  after  the 
manner  of  glacial  ice.  The  interior  will 
be  heated  by  petroleum  and  furnished 
with  every  necessary  for  life  at  that  great 
altitude. 

In  spite  of  advanced  age,  M.  Janssen 
ascended  the  mountain  to  see  whether  the 
project  was  feasible,  and  later  to  make  the 
first  scientific  observations  in  that  pure  air. 
He  at  once  satisfied  himself  by  the  use  of 
the  spectroscope,  that  there  could  be  no 
oxygen  in  the  solar  atmosphere,  and  that 
the  apparent  oxygen  lines,  observed  by 
others,  were  due  to  the  effect  of  the  earth's 
atmosphere.  Further  valuable  results  will 
no  doubt  continue  to  flow  from  this  daring, 


28  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

scientific  experiment.  Certainly,  Alpine 
travellers  have  every  reason  to  rejoice  at 
the  shelter  afforded  by  the  observatorj-, 
since  it  is  now  possible  to  remain  a  few 
days  on  the  summit  and  wait  for  a  view. 

Is  the  taming  of  Mont  Blanc  now 
complete?  I  think  not.  This  age  and  the 
next  has  further  surprises  in  store  for  the 
mountain  giant.  In  our  day,  we  are  rapidly 
conquering  the  Alps  by  steam  and  electri- 
city. Perhaps  it  may  be  the  turn  of  Mont 
Blanc  next  year,  or  the  year  after,  to  fall  a 
victim.  But  if  railroads  do  not  succeed, 
perhaps  balloons  will.  In  point  of  fact,  the 
attempt  has  already  been  made  to  cross  the 
Alps  in  an  air-ship,  although,  to  be  accurate, 
the  issue  was  tragic,  since  the  expedition 
began  with  a  wedding  and  ended  with 
a  funeral.  A  certain  Italian  aeronaut 
married  a  wife,  presented  his  bride  with 
a  new  balloon  as  a  wedding  gift,  and 
decided  to  spend  his  honeymoon  making 
trips.  On  one  occasion  the  couple  invited 
a  male  friend  to  make  the  attempt  of 
crossing  the  Alps  and  landing  on  French 
territory.  When  near  the  Cairamella 
Peaks,  the  balloon  was  caught  in  a  hurri 


THE   TAMING   OF    MONT   BLANC.  29 

cane,  dashed  with  great  violence  against 
a  glacier,  and  broken  up.  The  occupants 
escaped  practically  uninjured,  and  spent 
the  first  night  sheltering  themselves  as 
best  they  could  under  the  remnants  of 
the  balloon.  But  in  trying  to  make  their 
way  down  next  day,  the  party  were  less 
fortunate ;  for  the  husband  fell  into  a 
crevasse  and  was  killed,  the  friend  sus- 
tained serious  injuries,  and  the  bride  alone, 
after  a  second  terrible  night  spent  on 
the  snow  with  her  disabled  companion, 
was  able  to  make  her  way  down  to  a  moun- 
taineer's hut.  The  friend  was  rescued  by 
a  party  of  searchers,  and  the  body  of  the 
husband  removed  to  a  mountain  chapel. 

The  first  attempt  to  conquer  the  Alps 
with  balloons  is  not  encouraging.  But 
when  contrivances  have  been  perfected,  we 
can  imagine  future  tourists  standing  in 
immaculate  toilets  where  Balmat  arrived, 
panting  and  frozen ;  telephoning  to  their 
friends  below,  from  the  pinnacle  where  the 
courageous  hunter  triumphantly  proclaimed 
himself  the  King  of  Mont  Blanc.  What 
bathos  !     And  vet  what  a  marvel ! 


CHAPTER    III. 

ROUSSEAU,   VOLTAIRE,    AND    MADAME    DE 
STAEL. 

SWITZERLAND  has  never  known  a 
period  of  such  intellectual  brilliancy 
as  that  comprised  by  the  closing  j-ears  of 
the  last  century  and  the  opening  ones  of 
this.  A  whole  list  of  world  celebrities. 
both  native  and  foreign,  were  gathered 
upon  her  soil ;  but  Geneva  outshone  even 
Zurich  with  the  combined  lustre  of  Rous- 
seau, Voltaire,  and  Madame  de  Stael. 

I. 

Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  stands  easily  first 
among  the  men  of  genius  whom  Geneva 
has  produced.  Most  of  his  life,  it  is  true, 
was  spent  away  from  his  native  city;  but 
the  main  spring  of  his  best  thoughts,  and 
the  elements  of  his  real  strength,  were  un- 
questionably Genevese.     He   was   born   in 


ROUSSEAU.  31 

1 71 2,  in  a  house  on  the  Grand'  Rue.  His 
ancestors  were  French,  a  certain  bookseller, 
Didier  Rousseau,  having  come  from  Paris 
in  1550. 

His  bringing  up  was  singularly  unfortu- 
nate ;  for  his  mother,  a  woman  of  taste  and 
accomplishments,  died  in  giving  birth  to 
him,  while  his  father,  by  turns  a  watch- 
maker and  a  dancing-master,  was  a  fervent 
patriot,  but  a  careless  parent.  The  child 
was  given  into  the  charge  of  aunts,  who 
brought  him  up  without  the  companionship 
of  other  children.  He  became  as  sensitive 
and  shy  as  a  girl,  devouring  romances  at 
home,  when  he  ought  to  have  been  playing 
out-of-doors.  For  a  while  he  was  sent  into 
the  country  to  a  pastor,  Lambercier,  and 
then  apprenticed  to  an  engraver,  who  beat 
him.  The  boy's  character  became  sly  and 
savage  from  bad  treatment. 

At  sixteen,  Rousseau,  unable  to  bear  his 
lot,  fled  to  a  proselyting  priest,  M.  de  Pon- 
verre,  at  Confignon,  in  Savoy,  and  renounced 
Protestantism.  "  He  received  me  well," 
relates  Rousseau  in  his  "  Confessions," 
"spoke  to  me  of  the  heresy  of  Geneva,  of 
the  authority  of  the  holy  mother  church, 


32  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

and  gave  me  dinner.  I  found  little  to 
answer  to  arguments  which  ended  thus ; 
and  I  judged  that  priests,  at  whose  houses 
one  dined  so  well,  were  at  all  events  worth 
as  much  as  our  ministers."  A  commemo- 
rative tablet  has  recently  been  affixed  to 
the  wall  of  this  parish  house.  At  M.  de 
Ponverre's  suggestion  Rousseau  went  to 
Annecy  to  ask  help  of  Madame  de  Warens, 
—  a  recent  convert,  originally  from  Vevey, 
who  was  in  receipt  of  an  annuity  from  the 
King  of  Sardinia. 

This  step  was  one  of  the  decisive  ones 
in  his  life.  With  Madame  de  Warens"s 
help,  Rousseau  at  first  sought  employment 
in  Turin,  but  soon  returned  to  her  and  took 
up  his  abode  for  years  in  her  house.  She 
received  him  out  of  the  goodness  of  her 
heart,  pitying  his  misery,  and  attracted  by 
his  originality.  But  Madame  de  Warens 
was  only  thirty,  and  still  beautiful,  —  a 
woman  with  a  history,  unbalanced  in  her 
religious  ideas,  and  protesting  against  the 
world's  conventional  code.  From  being  his 
"maman,"  as  Rousseau  called  her,  she 
became  his  mistress,  by  a  process  whose 
steps    he   has  described   with    remorseless 


KOUSSEAU.  33 

frankness  in  his  "  Confessions."  For  ten 
years  they  lived  upon  Madame  de  Warens's 
small  income,  Rousseau  in  the  mean  time 
trying  a  variety  of  occupations  with  little 
or  no  success,  — studying  law,  giving  music 
lessons,  and,  above  all,  reading  philosophy 
with  avidity.  Removing  to  a  country  place 
near  Chamb^ry,  called  Aux  Charmettes,  the 
couple  gave  themselves  up  to  a  life  of 
luxurious  sentimentalism. 

In  1 741  Rousseau  finally  broke  away 
from  this  relaxing  atmosphere,  satiated,  and 
anxious  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  world 
of  Paris.  The  following  twelve  years  were 
marked  by  a  terrible  struggle  against  pov- 
erty and  in  galling  obscurity.  The  young 
enthusiast  had  gone  to  Paris  with  high 
hopes,  having  invented  a  new  system  of 
annotating  music  by  numbers:  but  nobody 
would  hear  of  it,  and  he  was  thrown  upon 
various  shifts  to  keep  from  starving.  His 
first  success  was  in  1752,  when,  having 
made  the  acquaintance  of  several  actors, 
he  had  the  good  fortune  of  having  his 
piece,  "  Devin  du  \'illage,"  acted  at  court. 
It  was  characteristic  of  the  man,  however, 
that  he  refused  the  pension  which  the  king 
3 


34  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

offered  him  in  acknowledgment  of  his 
talents,  preferring  to  nurse  his  pride  in 
poverty,  copying  music  at  so  much  a  line. 

But  the  spell  of  constant  failure  was 
broken.  He  kept  himself  before  the  public 
by  a  series  of  radical  utterances  on  music, 
political  rights,  and  political  economy.  Mis 
"Discours  sur  I'lnegalite"'  raised  a  per- 
fect whirlwind  of  discussion.  In  1754,  he 
returned  to  Geneva,  after  an  absence  of 
forty-two  years,  re-entered  the  Protestant 
Church,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  but  refused  the  position  of 
librarian  offered  him  tliere.  Instead,  he 
contracted  3.  liaison  with  Madame  d'Epinay, 
and  settled  in  a  little  house  belonging  to 
her,  called  L'Ermitagc,  at  Montmorency, 
near  Paris. 

From  this  retreat  Rousseau  launched  in 
succession  his  "  Nouvelle  H^loise."  "  Con- 
trat  -Social,"  and  •■  Emile,"'  —  three  books 
which  exerted  an  almost  incredible  influ- 
ence upon  the  times,  forcing  men  and 
women  to  probe  the  problems  underlying 
the  relations  of  the  sexes,  the  political 
rights  of  men,  and  the  education  of  chib 
dren.     Amiel.  who  made  a  special  stud}-  of 


ROUSSEAU.  35 

the  philosopher,  aptly  says:  "J.  J.  Rous- 
seau is  an  ancestor  in  all  things.  It  was 
he  who  founded  travelling  on  foot  before 
Topffer,  revery  before  Ren^,  literary  bot- 
any before  George  Sand,  the  worship  of 
Nature  before  Bernardin  dc  St.  Pierre,  the 
democratic  theory  before  the  Revolution  of 
1789,  political  discussion  and  theological 
discussion  before  Mirabeau  and  Renan,  the 
science  of  teaching  before  Pestalozzi,  and 
Alpine  description  before  De  Saussure. 
He  made  music  the  fashion,  and  created 
the  taste  for  confessions  to  the  public.  He 
formed  a  new  French  style, — the  close, 
chastened,  passionate,  interwoven  style  we 
know  so  well."*  At  this  time  he  took  as 
mistress  a  servant,  Thdrfese  Levasseur,  by 
whom  he  had  five  children. 

In  1762,  his  work,  "Emile,"  was  burned 
by  the  hangman,  by  order  both  of  the 
Parliament  of  France  and  the  Council  of 
Geneva.  Its  author  was  exiled,  fled  to 
Yverdon,  but,  being  expelled  by  the  Ber- 
nese  authorities,  then  ruling  the   Pays   de 

*  Amiel,  H.  F.  Journal  Tntime.  Translated  by 
Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward.  London  and  New  York: 
1885.     pp.  165-166. 


;i6  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Vaud,  finally  enjoyed  a  short  period  of  rest 
at  Motiers,  in  the  Prussian  principality  of 
Neuchatel,  under  the  protection  of  its  nom- 
inal ruler,  Frederick  the  Great.  In  disgust, 
Rousseau  renounced  liis  rights  of  citizen- 
ship in  Geneva.  The  city  was  thrown  into 
a  ferment,  everybody  siding  for  or  against 
him.  His  friends  petitioned  the  Council 
in  his  favor  in  a  strongly  worded  rep7-hen- 
iaiion,  to  which  the  latter  opposed  their 
so-called  droit  negatif.  From  that  moment 
the  city  was  divided  mto  political  parties, 
styling  themselves  Representants  and  Niga- 
tifs.  Then  followed  a  singular  literary 
duel.  The  Procurator-General  of  Geneva, 
Tronchin,  opened  the  case  in  favor  of  the 
Represefitants  by  his  "  Lettres  de  la  Cam- 
pagne,"  —  models  of  juridical  discussion; 
but  Rousseau  answered  with  crushing  effect 
in  his  "  Lettres  de  la  Montague,"  reproach- 
ing the  partisans  of  the  ancient  order  with 
burning  words.  "  I  see  no  servitude  equal 
to  yours,"  he  wrote;  "and  the  image  of 
liberty  is  with  you  nothing  but  a  mocking 
and  childish  decoy,  which  it  is  even  unbe- 
coming to  offer  to  men  of  sense." 

Driven  even  from    Alotir-rs   bv  fimfirnl 


ROUSSEAU.  37 

peasants,  Rousseau  sought  refuge  for  two 
months  on  the  little  Isle  of  St.  Peter,  in 
the  Lake  of  Bienne.  His  room  is  still 
shown  to  visitors  in  the  so-called  Schaffner- 
haus;  but  the  level  of  the  lake  having  been 
lowered  by  the  Correction  des  Eaux  du 
Jura,  the  island  has  virtually  become  a 
peninsula,  being  now  connected  with  the 
mainland.  It  was  a  striking  example  of 
the  intolerance  of  pre-RevoIutionary  days 
in  Switzerland,  that  the  bigoted  Bernese 
magistrates  hunted  Rousseau  even  from 
this  retreat.  He  fled  to  Strassburg,  visited 
David  Hume  for  a  while  at  Wootton,  in 
England,  and  ended  his  days  at  Erme- 
nonville,  near  Paris,  in  1778.  His  body 
rests  side  by  side  with  that  of  Voltaire  in 
the  Pantheon. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  during  the 
last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  Rousseau  was 
pursued  by  the  fixed  idea  that  a  vast  con- 
spiracy had  been  organized  against  him. 
Lombroso,  the  Italian  writer,  whose  thesis 
is  that  "genius  is  a  special  morbid  condi- 
tion," goes  so  far  as  to  assert :  "  Those  who, 
without  frequenting  a  lunatic  asylum,  wish 
to  form  a  fairly  complete  idea  of  the  mental 


38  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

tortures  of  a  monomaniac  have  only  to 
look  through  Rousseau's  works,  especially 
his  later  writings,  such  as  the  '  Confessions,' 
the  '  Dialogues,"  and  the  '  Reveries.'  "  * 

There  can  be  no  question  that  Rous- 
seau's physical  and  mental  make-up  was 
abnormal ;  but  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  his  persecutions  were  also  sufficiently 
real  to  unbalance  even  a  sturdier  nature. 

An  enigmatical  creature  he  was,  in  truth, 
—  impressionable,  acting  upon  impulse, 
and  as  nervous  as  the  proverbial  modern 
woman.  Paradoxical  to  a  degree  hardly 
conceivable  until  his  life  is  compared  with 
his  teachings,  he  yet  reclaimed  himself 
from  hypocrisy  by  a  naive  avowal  of  his 
sins.  Although  by  temperament  gross  and 
sensual,  he  described  the  utmost  delicacy 
and  refinement  of  love  in  his  "  Nouvelle 
H^loise."  He  was  a  radical  reformer  in 
the  education  of  the  young,  who  abandoned 
his  illegitimate  children  to  the  Foundlings' 
Hospital;  a  mediocre  musician, playwright, 
and  poet,  but  an  original  and  courageous 

*  Lombroso,    Cesare.        The    Man    of     Genius 
London.     iSiji.     p.  Si. 


VOLTAIRE.  39 

philosopher ;  incapable  as  a  political  leader, 
but  unrivalled  as  an  advocate  of  popular 
rights.  Napoleon  said:  "Without  Rous- 
seau, France  would  not  have  had  her 
Revolution." 

It  was  his  supreme  merit  to  have  turned 
the  world  in  the  nick  of  time  once  more  to 
Nature.  He  was  the  apostle  of  her  beau- 
ties, her  laws,  and  her  divine  liberties. 


II.  —  Voltaire. 

In  the  same  3'ear,  1754,  in  which  Rousseau 
returned  for  a  short  visit  to  his  native  city, 
Voltaire  settled  in  Geneva  to  spend  the 
declining  years  of  his  life.  He  was  sixty- 
one  years  of  age,  possessed  world-wide 
fame,  and  had  just  quarrelled  with  F'red- 
erick  the  Great  at  Potsdam.  Voltaire 
bought  two  pieces  of  property,  —  one  near 
Geneva,  which  he  called  Les  D^Iices,  and 
another,  Monrion,  near  Lausanne.  Living 
alternately  upon  these  estates,  he  imme- 
diately created  a  stimulating,  intellectual 
atmosphere  in  his  environment. 


40  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

There  was  first  that  famous  article  on 
Geneva,  published  by  D'Alembert  in  the 
"  Encyclopedia."  but  inspired  by  Voltaire 
himself.  In  it  the  pastors  of  the  city  were 
described  as  caring  little  for  the  forms  of 
Christianity,  and  as  being  mere  deists. 
The  protests  which  rose  from  the  Puritan 
city  re-echoed  far  and  wide,  to  the  great 
delight  of  the  cynical  philosopher.  Open 
war  was  thus  declared.  Voltaire,  to  make 
his  position  more  secure,  withdrew  to 
Ferney,  in  France,  just  outside  of  the  juris- 
diction of  Geneva.  Thence  he  published 
some  of  his  most  impious  works.  Near  by, 
at  Tournay,  he  erected  a  theatre,  and,  to 
the  consternation  of  the  Genevese,  actually 
produced  some  of  his  own  plays  at  his 
estate  of  Les  D^lices.  In  spite  of  all  the 
authorities  could  do,  people  flocked  to  the 
theatre.  Voltaire  observed  the  disturbance 
he  had  created  with  sinister  satisfaction, 
twitting  the  magistrates  and  pastors  with 
their  impotence. 

Even  Rousseau  considered  himself  called 
upon  to  expostulate  with  Voltaire.  The 
two  philosophers  had  more  than  once  be- 
fore exchanged  letters,  but  they  never  actu- 


VOLTAIRE.  41 

ally  met.  Rousseau  had  sent  Voltaire  his 
"  In^galit^  "  some  years  before,  receiving 
from  the  latter  an  answer  which  M.  Godet 
calls  "  a  masterpiece  of  French  irony  "  : 
"  Sir,  I  have  received  your  book  against 
the  human  race.  ...  So  much  talent  has 
never  before  been  employed  in  making 
brutes  of  us  ;  one  is  seized  with  a  desire  to 
walk  on  all-fours  after  reading  your  book." 
On  another  occasion,  Rousseau  had  had  the 
courage  to  rebuke  Voltaire  for  the  pessi- 
mism of  his  poem  on  the  "  Desastre  de  Lis- 
bonne,"  and  now  he  boldly  reproached  him 
with  corrupting  the  simple,  Spartan-like 
habits  of  the  Genevese  by  means  of  his 
theatrical  performances.  But  Voltaire's 
ardor  was  only  fired  the  more  by  this  op- 
position. His  fury  knew  no  bounds ;  his 
satire  became  even  more  scathing,  and  his 
resources  more  versatile. 

The  chateau  at  Ferney  is  one  of  the 
show  places  in  the  environs  of  Geneva.  It 
has  been  overhauled  recently,  and  a  statue 
erected  to  Voltaire  in  his  capacity  as  patri- 
arch of  the  place.  In  point  of  fact,  he 
was  the  maker  of  Ferney ;  for  when  he 
went  there,  in    1757,  it  consisted  of    only 


42  RO.MAN'CE    SWITZERLANO. 

eight  houses,  while  to-day  it  is  a  populous 
village.  The  interior  of  the  chateau  con- 
tains little  of  interest  beyond  a  few  sou- 
venirs, but  the  arbored  garden  and  old- 
fashioned  pleasure-grounds  are  said  to 
retain  their  original  design.  There  is  also 
the  chapel  of  this  king  of  irreligion,  with 
that  inimitable  inscription,  Deo  cfexit  Vol- 
taire,  —  "Voltaire  erected  [this]  to  God,"' 
—  of  which  Dumas  the  elder  wrote,  after 
he  had  visited  Ferney  :  "  It  was  intended 
to  prove  to  the  whole  world,  which  had 
become  very  anxious  about  the  di?pt"tes  of 
the  creature  with  his  Creator,  that  Voltaire 
and  God  had  finally  become  reconciled ; 
the  world  heard  this  news  with  satisfaction, 
but  it  always  suspected  that  Voltaire  had 
made  the  first  advances.'' 

From  his  retreat,  the  philosopher  watched 
the  political  struggles  of  Geneva  with  con- 
siderable, and  at  times  almost  benevolent, 
interest.  He  once  said  to  the  party  of  the 
Natifs,  —  that  is,  the  descendants  of  for- 
eigners who  had  settled  in  the  city,  but 
were  deprived  of  their  political  rights  by 
the  Rcprcsentants  and  the  A'egatifs,  — 
"My  friends,  you  resemble  somewhat  those 


VOLTAIRE.  43 

flying-fish  which,  when  out  of  water,  are 
eaten  by  birds  of  prey,  and  when  they  dive 
back  again  into  the  waves,  are  devoured 
by  big  fish."  A  wigmaker,  lierraud  by 
name,  a  man  of  poetical  aspirations,  once 
presented  Voltaire  with  a  comedy.  The 
philosopher  asked,  "  What  is  your  occupa- 
tion?" "I  am  a  wigmaker."  •■  Then,  my 
friend,  go  make  wigs." 

It  was  all  very  witty,  very  keen,  but  very 
repelling,  this  raillery  of  Voltaire's.  No 
two  men  of  genius  could  have  been  more 
unlike  each  other  than  Rousseau  and  Vol- 
taire,—  the  former  a  democrat,  a  plebeian, 
boasting  in  his  title  of  Citizen  of  Geneva, 
even  when  he  felt  called  upon  to  renounce 
it,  an  optimist  of  the  optimists,  and  a  firm 
believer  in  spirituality,  though  an  unworthy 
exponent  of  its  transforming  powers ;  the 
latter  an  aristocrat,  a  courtier,  a  despiser  of 
the  common  people,  a  pessimist,  and  a 
confirmed  materialist.  Rousseau  was,  at 
all  events,  a  man  of  heart,  but  Voltaire 
was  a  man  of  mere  mind;  and  that  is  why 
the  former  founded  a  school  and  left  dis- 
ciples, while  the  latter  did  not. 

Voltaire's  death  was  long  in  coming.     At 


44  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

»;he  age  of  eighty-four,  in  1778,  he  started 
off  for  Paris,  and  while  there,  sickened 
and  expired.  A  good  deal  has  been  said 
about  the  manner  of  his  death.  Sensa- 
tional reports  were  circulated  at  the  time, 
that  he  was  tortured  by  remorse  and  una- 
vailing regrets.  There  seems  to  have  been 
no  truth  in  these  stories.  They  were  con- 
cocted upon  slender  stories  of  his  physi- 
cal sufferings  to  frighten  people  against 
infidelity. 


III.  —  Madame  de  Stael. 

Voltaire  was  a  Frenchman  ;  but  Rousseau 
and  Madame  de  Stael  were  Swiss,  alike  by 
parentage,  and  by  a  certain  earnestness  of 
thought. 

The  proper  place  to  study  Madame  de 
Stael  is  in  the  old  French  chateau  at 
Coppet,  near  Geneva.  Her  spirit  pervades 
the  quiet  courtyard,  the  vestibule,  with  its 
statue  of  her  father,  Necker,  the  long 
library,  where  bookcases  line  one  side, 
green-clothed  gaming  tables  stand  down 
the  middle,  and  a  few  pieces  of  furniture 


MADAME    DE    STAEL.  45 

against  the  wall  recall  the  simple,  graceful 
curves  of  the  Directoire  style.  The  bed- 
room of  Madame  de  Stael  is  still  brilliant 
in  an  old-fashioned  sort  of  way,  with  its 
magnificent  canopied  bed,  its  brocaded  silk 
hangings,  and  exquisitely  embroidered 
wliite  satin  sofa.  The  room  where  Madame 
Rccamier  slept,  when  she  made  her  fre- 
quent visits,  has  a  wall-paper  of  quaint 
designs,  and  is  gay  with  a  mellow,  fasvn- 
colored  tint. 

The  walls  of  the  great  drawing-room 
upstairs  are  hung  with  portraits.  There 
is  one  in  particular,  of  the  beautiful  daugh- 
ter of  Madame  de  Stael,  Albertine,  later 
the  Duchesse  de  Broglie.  The  present 
possessor,  the  Comtesse  d'Haussonville,  is 
a  great-granddaughter.  On  a  table,  among 
tlie  snuff-boxes  and  other  curios  of  that 
sort,  is  a  miniature  of  Madame  de  Stael. 
svliich  is  especially  fine.  It  represents  her 
v.-ith  flashing  black  eyes  full  of  an  intelli- 
gent inspiration,  black  ringlets  about  her 
head,  highly  colored  complexion,  thick  lips, 
and  full  bosom,  —  a  woman  of  tremen- 
dous spirit  and  tender  heart.  In  the  study 
are  more   portraits, —  the  parents,   M.  and 


46  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Madame  Necker,  Madame  de  Stael  herself, 
lurbaned  and  decolletee  by  Gerard,  and 
her  son,  Aut^uste  de  Stacil,  gentle  scholar 
and  philanthropist. 

The  chateau  at  Coppet  passed  through 
many  hands  before  it  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Necker,  the  father.  His  prede- 
cessor was  a  wealthy  money-changer  of  St. 
Gallen,  who  died  a  pauper,  of  a  broken 
heart. 

Necker  was  by  birth  a  Genevese,  but 
descended  from  Protestant  Irish  stock. 
As  a  young  man,  he  entered  upon  the 
career  of  financier  in  Paris,  started  a  bank, 
and  played  his  part  in  the  opening  chapters 
of  the  Revolution  as  minister  of  Louis  XVI. 
He  was  a  man  of  honest  purpose,  a  syste- 
matic philanthropist,  but  proved  incapable 
of  controlling  the  surging  forces  of  France 
in  her  great  upheaval.  Madame  Necker, 
who,  as  Su/anne  Curchod,  it  is  said,  had 
been  jilted  by  Gibbon  at  Lausanne,  was 
a  woman  of  acknowledged  charm,  a  bright 
spirit,  who  never  quite  forgot  her  Protestant 
principles  in  the  dissolute  air  of  Parisian 
society.  Her  salon  was  frequented  by  the 
famous  men  who  were   making  history  in 


MADAME   DE   STAEL.  47 

France;  and  it  was  there  that  her  little 
daughter,  Germaine,  used  to  appear,  at  the 
age  of  eleven,  sitting  on  a  stool  beside  her 
mother,  listening  with  rapt  attention  to  the 
discussions  of  philosophers  and  the  sallies 
of  wits. 

Germaine  Necker  was  born  in  1766,  and 
early  developed  a  precocious,  prodigious 
heart  and  mind.  But  it  is  not  wholesome 
to  be  an  "infant  phenomenon."  She 
seemed  capable  of  the  most  exalted  joys 
and  the  blackest  sorrows.  Receptive,  read- 
ing everything  that  came  to  her  hand,  emo- 
tional and  susceptible,  she  seemed  destined 
to  a  career  full  of  dramatic  intensity. 

Indeed,  how  can  one  speak  with  mod- 
eration of  this  most  immoderate  woman  ? 
Her  life  was  one  vast,  volcanic  whirl. 
Her  conversation  entranced  with  a  certain 
feverish  force ;  her  books  were  more  injflu- 
ential  than  State  papers,  and  her  salon 
than  council-chambers.  The  atmosphere 
in  which  she  lived  was  one  of  enormous 
exaggeration ;  her  temperament  was  pas- 
sionate, without  self-control,  at  once 
prompted  by  a  virile  genius,  and  softened 
by  feminine  weaknesses ;    her  attachments 


45  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

were  ardent  with  unquenched  fires,  and 
stormy  with  bitter  disappointments.  But 
throughout  she  remained  sincere  in  her 
convictions,  and  generous  to  her  enemies. 

In  1786,  she  was  married  to  Baron  Stael- 
Holstein,  Swedish  ambassador  to  France, 
a  reckless  gambler  and  an  ambitious  diplo- 
mat, with  a  taste  for  mysticism.  He  was 
seventeen  years  her  senior,  and  the  mar- 
riage was  a  cold,  unhappy  affair.  Madame 
Necker  had  tried  to  secure  young  Pitt  as 
a  son-in-law;  but  Germaine  would  not  hear 
of  leaving  Paris,  and  wrote  very  disre- 
spectfully and  hysterically  in  her  diary 
about  the  "  Hateful  Island."  Stael-Hol- 
stein  was  a  sort  of  makeshift,  and  his  wife 
soon  forgot  him  in  the  presence  of  a  host 
of  brilliant  admirers,  among  whom  she 
selected  for  special  favors  young  Talley- 
rand, Narbonne,  and  Mathieu  de  Mont- 
morency. 

The  great  Revolution  burst  upon  Ma- 
dame de  Stael,  reigning  like  a  queen  in 
her  salon  at  the  Swedish  embassy.  She 
promptly  turned  to  play  a  political  part  in 
the  struggle.  Her  father,  Necker,  was 
twice    overthrown,     and    then    retired    to 


MADAME   DE    STAEL.  49 

Coppet,  to  study  in  oblivion  the  reasons  for 
his  failure  as  economist  and  peacemaker. 
His  daughter  remained  to  try  to  save  Marie 
Antoinette,  to  intrigue  in  behalf  of  Nar- 
bonne,  and  to  originate  endless  schemes 
for  reorganizing  the  State,  now  upon  Eng- 
lish principles,  now  after  the  American 
model.  All  in  vain.  On  the  21st  of  Sep- 
tember, 1792,  France  was  declared  a  repub- 
lic. The  day  before,  Madame  de  Stael 
had  escaped  to  Coppet. 

It  was  not  till  towards  the  end  of  her  life, 
that  the  restless  "  ambassadress  "  became 
reconciled  to  her  rustic  n.treat.  She 
frankly  acknowledged,  "  I  have  a  mag- 
nificent horror  of  the  whole  of  Switzer- 
land." Paris  always  remained  her  real 
centre  of  attraction,  where  alone  she  was 
not  assailed  by  the  fear  of  ennui.  The 
love  of  mountains  was  as  inexplicable  to 
her,  as  it  was  to  the  ancients. 

Her  literary  activity  now  practically 
began.  She  had  already  written  a  num- 
ber of  sentimental  romances  and  poems. 
Her  first  pretentious  piece  was  "  Letters 
upon  the  Writings  and  Character  of  Jean 
Jacques  Rousseau,"  published  in  1789. 
4 


50  ROjMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Then  came  the  "  Reflections  upon  the  Trial 
of  the  Queen,"  designed  to  move  France  in 
behalf  of  poor  Marie  Antoinette,  the  "  Re- 
flections  upon  the  Peace,"  and  the  "Essay 
on  Fiction."  Madame  Neckcr  de  Saus- 
sure  —  a  cousin  who  knew  the  authoress 
intimately,  and  has  given  us  a  grapliic 
account  of  her  career- — -has  said:  ''Her 
works  are,  so  to  speak,  in  an  abstract  form, 
the  memoirs  of  her  life."  This  is,  per- 
haps, particularly  true  of  her  riper  books. 
"The  l^assions,"  upon  which  subject  no 
one  surely  could  have  been  better  qualified 
to  writ(;,  was  born  of  ample  experience. 

In  1794,  Madame  de  Stael  met  Benjamin 
Constant,  a  native  of  I^ausanne,  a  vain  and 
vacillating  genius  of  twenty-seven,  one 
year  her  junior.  It  is  a  sufficient  commen- 
tary upon  his  life  to  say  that,  although  he 
was  one  of  the  most  gifted  men  of  his  day, 
he  produced  only  what  was  second-rate. 
His  \'ery  name  was  a  satire  u])on  his  dispo- 
sition, and  bv  some  strange  irony,  the 
principal  work  left  by  this  unstable  Lotha- 
rio v,as  on  '•  Religion,"  Madame  de  Stael 
was  fascinated  by  liis  sparkling  personality, 
and  threw   herself   without  reserve  into  an 


MADAME   DE    STAKL.  51 

amorous  adventure  which  in  reality  upset 
her  whole  life.  She  held  Benjamin  Con- 
stant by  a  jealous,  passionate  chain  which 
he  soon  found  irksome.  Their  liaiso7i 
was  marked  by  stormy  quarrels  and  fierce 
reconciliations. 

In  1795,  Madame  de  Stael  reopened  her 
salon  for  a  short  time  at  the  Swedish  em- 
bassy ;  but  the  Directory  gave  her  very 
plainly  to  understand  that  her  presence  was 
not  desired,  and  she  returned  to  Coppet. 

At  last,  in  1797,  she  was  allowed  to  live 
in  Paris.  She  became  a  political  factor  in 
the  history  of  the  day,  the  queen  upon  the 
chess-board  of  P'rance.  But  she  found  her 
match  in  Napoleon.  She  had  expected  to 
captivate  him  ;  instead  of  that,  she  simply 
roused  his  dislike.  He  silenced  her  with 
his  peculiar  eagle  look,  so  that  she.  whose 
conversational  powers  were  the  talk  of  her 
contemporaries,  confessed  to  a  difficult}-  of 
breathing  in  his  presence.  From  antipathy 
their  mutual  feeling  grew  to  hatred,  and 
ended  in  a  sort  of  Titanic  duel,  which  lasted 
ten  years,  —  the  master  of  the  nations 
against  the  mistress  of  tlie  intellectual 
world.     Her  salon  was  at  the  height  of  its 


52  ROMANXE    SWITZERLAND. 

splendor  during  the  Consulate,  graced  by 
Madame  R^camier's  beauty,  and  distin- 
guished by  the  concentrated  eloquence  and 
learning  of  historical  personages.  Napo- 
leon first  interdicted  her  salon,  and  "'n  1802 
sent  her  into  exile.  But  she  was  a  woman, 
and  was  bound  to  have  the  las^  word: 
"  What  cruel  fame  you  give  me ! '  she 
wrote  him  in  1803,  "I  shall  have  a  few 
lines   in  your  history." 

M.  de  Stael,  who  for  a  while  after  his 
marriage  appeared  upon  the  scene  casually, 
as  it  were,  ceased  to  trouble  himself  about 
his  wife  in  1798,  and  died  in  1S02;  but 
the  widow  never  married  Benjamin  Con- 
stant. For  a  time  she  devoted  herself 
to  her  two  sons,  born  in  1790  and  1792,  and 
to  her  daughter  Albertine,  born  at  Coppet 
in  1797.  She  was,  with  all  her  failings,  a 
loving  mother;  and  her  children  grew  up  to 
have  a  positive  adoration  for  her. 

Madame  de  Stael's  book  on  "  Literature  " 
contributed  not  a  little  to  her  expulsion  from 
France.  Then  followed  "  Delphine,"'  —  a 
romance  in  which  she  virtually  tells  the 
story  of  her  youth.  "  Corinne "  was 
written    after    a   trip    to    Italy,    when    she 


MADAME    DE    STAEL.  53 

was  thirty-nine.  In  it  she  depicts  herself 
idealized,  a  woman  of  genius  between  love 
and  glory.  "  Corinne,"  says  Albert  Sorel, 
"  stands  in  literature  not  as  a  masterpiece, 
—  there  is  too  great  length  of  narrative,  too 
much  of  fashion  in  the  style,  —  but  as  a 
fine  example  of  poetic  genius,  such  as  it 
was  conceived  of  in  those  days,"*  The 
famous  book  on  "  Germany,"  in  like 
manner,  was  the  result  of  a  visit  to  that 
country.  There  she  met  Goethe,  Schiller, 
and  other  great  lights  of  German  literature, 
astounding  them  with  her  genius,  but 
wearying  them  with  her  volubility.  Her 
book  practically  opened  the  treasures  of 
German  literature  to  French  appreciation. 

From  1806  to  181 2  there  ensued  a  period 
of  comparative  tranquillity  at  Coppet.  She 
held  intellectual  court,  entertaining  the 
notabilities  of  the  time.  Among  the  pre- 
ferred guests  were  Sismondi,  lionstetten, 
Johann  von  Miiller,  Guizot,  and  Schlegel. 
Madame  R^camier  would  often  be  there 
with  her  train  of  admirers,  and  of  course 

*  Sorel,  Albert.  Madame  de  Stael.  London, 
iSg2,     p.   151. 


54  ROMANCE    SWITZFiRLAND. 

Benjamin  Constant,  when  he  was  not 
absent  on  other  gallantries.  Towards  the 
close  of  this  period,  in  1811,  a  very 
extraordinary  thing  happened.  A  young 
Gcnevese  officer  in  the  Spanish  service, 
Albert  de  Rocca,  returned  to  his  native 
city.  He  had  been  wounded,  and  pos- 
sessed a  charming,  modest  way  of  relating 
his  military  adventures.  When  he  met 
Madame  de  Stacl,  he  promptly  fell  in  love 
with  her,  and  they  were  secretly  married. 
He  was  twenty-three,  and  she  forty-five.  A 
boy  was  born  of  this  union  whom  her  other 
children  took  care  to  acknowledge,  when 
they  published  her  marriage  after  her 
death.  It  is  said  that  Benjamin  Constant 
reappeared  at  Coppet,  on  one  occasion,  but 
was  forced  to  beat  an  angry  retreat. 

Napoleon,  now  emperor,  finally  made 
Madame  de  Stael's  stay  even  at  Coppet 
unsafe.  She  was  obliged  to  leave  her 
chateau.  It  would  be  a  long  task  indeed 
to  record  the  details  of  this  flight  of  hers 
through  Europe.  The  restlessness  of  her 
life,  as  it  is,  must  give  the  reader  a  species 
of  vertigo.  At  all  events,  she  has  given  us 
a  sufficiently  elaborate  account  in  her  "  Ten 


MADAME   DE    STAEL.  55 

Years  of  Exile."  After  the  Restoration, 
she  even  reopened  her  salon  for  a  while,  and 
wrote  her  "  Considerations  upon  the  French 
Revolution,"  which  is  the  most  profound  of 
her  works.  In  reality,  Madame  de  Stael 
wore  well  from  a  literary  standpoint, 
improving  with  age,  so  that  at  last  she 
acquired  a  sort  of  serenity  of  style. 

Her  death  came  in  18 17.  Worn  out  by 
insomnia,  and  enervated  by  the  use  of 
opium,  she  fell  paralyzed  at  a  ball  in  the 
house  of  the  Due  Decazes.  Rocca  nursed 
her  faithfully  until  she  sank  into  her  last 
sleep.  She  was  buried  at  Coppet,  and 
Bonstetten  pathetically  describes  the  burial 
procession  as  passing  "  between  two  rows 
of  children  and  old  people,  for  the  able- 
bodied  were  off  harvesting." 

In  any  summing-up  of  her  career,  the 
word  "passion  "  must  be  uppermost.  That 
quality  of  temperament  was  at  once  her 
bane  and  her  glory ;  and  yet  her  nature 
was  never  other  than  truthful  and  straight- 
forward, alike  in  her  virtues  and  her  faults. 
Albert  Sorel  has  well  said,  "  But  go  to  the 
bottom,  and  you  will  find  in  her  life  only 
the  desire  to  give  and  to  obtain   happiness. 


56  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

the  need  of  loving  and  being  loved  ;  in  her 
politics,  only  the  sentiment  of  justice  ;  in 
her  literature,  only  the  aspiration  after  the 
ideal;  and  throughout  all,  sincerity."'  * 

*  Sorel,   Albert.      Madame  de   Stael.      London 
1892.      p.  256. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BRIEF    BIOGRAPHIES. 

I. — John  Calvin.     (1509-1564.) 

FOR  so  small  a  city,  Geneva  has 
produced  an  astonishing  nunnber  of 
great  men.  On  two  occasions  she  actually 
made  world-history, — when  Calvin  sum- 
moned the  sixteenth  century  to  "return  to 
the  Bible."  and  Rousseau  the  eighteenth  to 
"  return  to  Nature."  Each  is  a  mighty  cry  ; 
but  somehow  Geneva  has  honored  only  the 
Apostle  of  the  Revolution  with  a  monument. 
For  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  "  City 
of  Calvin  "  does  not  contain  a  single  statue, 
or  even  a  bust,  of  the  Reformer;  his  very 
grave  is  unknown  and  unmarked.  At  the 
third  centenary  of  his  death  (i<S64),  how- 
ever, the  Salle  de  la  Reformation  was 
erected  in  his  honor.  The  Public  Library 
also  exhibits  a  portrait,  and  under  a  glass 


58  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

case  a  sketch  made  by  his  friend  Bur- 
goin,  on  tlie  fly-leaf  of  a  book.  Strange 
omission  !  Are  the  citizens  of  the  "  Protes- 
tant Rome"  waiting  until  public  opinion 
shall  sanction  a  monument  to  Servetus  first, 
like  that  of  Giordano  Bruno  in  Catholic 
Rome?  It  would  be  an  act  worthy  of 
modern  religious  tolerance,  to  erect  a 
double  monument  to  Calvin  and  his  victim, 
in  the  Place  de  Champel,  where  Servetus 
was  executed. 

The  general  features  of  Calvin's  career 
are  too  well  known  to  need  detailed 
comment.  Born  at  Noyon  in  France, 
educated  at  the  Universities  of  Orleans, 
Bourges,  and  Paris;  a  Humanist,  then  a 
wandering  Reformer,  lie  finally  settled  in 
CJcneva  in  1536,  at  the  request  of  l'\irel. 

There  are  so  few  really  sympathetic 
touches  in  his  life,  that  one  fastens  with 
particular  avidity  on  his  marriage  in  1540, 
while  he  was  in  exile  at  Strasburg,  to  a 
widow,  Idelctte  de  Bure,  who  was  poor,  in 
feeble  health,  and  already  the  motlier  of 
several  children.  PI  is  letters  to  friends 
show  this  union  to  have  been  a  quiet 
and  respectful  affair,  as  might  have  been 


JOHN    CALVIN.  59 

expected.  The  delicate  wife  gave  him  a 
son  who  died  in  infancy,  and  then  herself 
passed  away  after  nine  years  of  wedlock. 

Calvin's  ideal  of  civil  government  was  of 
the  theocratic  variety.  He  desired  to  have 
Geneva  ruled  by  God,  through  the  medium 
of  Calvin ;  and  he  was  perfectly  serious 
about  it.  He  went  to  work  with  a  fixed, 
unflinching  will  that  marks  him  as  the 
greatest  among  the  benevolent  despots 
whom  the  world  has  produced.  At  first 
he  failed  to  impress  the  liberty-loving 
Genevese  with  the  superiority  of  this  sort 
of  government.  They  banished  him  for 
two  years;  but  his  party  in  the  city  grew 
during  his  absence,  and  was  eventually 
able  to  recall  him. 

It  took  Calvin  ten  years  to  fix  the 
discipline  of  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Ordi- 
nances "  in  undisputed  sway  over  Geneva. 
The  political  party  of  the  Patriots  and 
the  religious  sect  of  the  Libertines  made 
common  cause  against  him,  insulting  him 
in  all  manner  of  ways,  breaking  the  rules 
set  up  by  his  Consistory,  and  openly 
ridiculing  his  dogmas.  E-ut  Calvin  was 
determined    to    suppress    this   opposition, 


6o  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

even  if  he  had  to  make  martyrs  of  his 
enemies.  Gruet  was  one  of  the  first 
victims.  He  had  so  far  forgotten  himself 
as  to  write  verses  against  Calvin,  and, 
besides,  had  a  way  at  church  of  look- 
ing defiantly  into  the  preacher's  face, 
which  called  for  reprimand.  Moreover, 
he  adopted  the  new  Bernese  fashion  of 
wearing  breeches  with  plaits  at  the  knees, 
contrary  to  express  orders,  filled  Calvin's 
works  with  disrespectful  marginal  notes, 
and  one  day  attached  a  warning  to  the 
pulpit,  wherein  he  actually  called  Calvin 
a  "gross  hypocrite."  But  the  Reformer 
retaliated  by  speaking  of  him  as  a  "scurvy 
fellow ;  "  and  the  upshot  of  the  little  dispute 
was  that  Gruet  was  tortured  every  day  for 
a  month,  and  then  beheaded. 

Another  person  who  gave  Calvin  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  was  a  certain  Ami  Perrin, 
military  chief  of  the  republic,  whom 
Calvin  nicknamed  the  "stage  emperor." 
He  escaped  with  banishment,  because  he 
showed  temporary  tendencies  towards  sub- 
mission. Perrin's  wife,  however,  could 
not  be  managed  so  easily.  She  was  a 
decidedly  gay  subject,  excessively  fond  of 


JOHN   CALVIN.  6l 

dancing,  and  if  the  reports  are  true,  used 
to  become  positively  riotous  at  fashionable 
weddings.  It  was  her  special  study  and 
faithful  endeavor  to  annoy  the  Venerable 
Company  of  Pastors  in  every  conceivable 
way.  She  was  of  course  thoroughly  suc- 
cessful. Calvin  could  punish  her,  as 
Napoleon  did  Madame  de  Stael,  by  exile, 
but  he  could  not  silence  her;  and  it 
is  generally  believed  that  the  Reformer 
afterwards  regretted  having  disturbed  the 
sprightly  lady  at  her  dancing. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Ameaux  drank 
freely  at  a  supper-party,  called  Calvin  a 
teacher  of  false  doctrines,  and  nothing 
but  a  Picard.  For  this  he  was  fined, 
imprisoned,  and  subjected  to  the  amende 
honorable  J  that  is,  he  was  paraded  through 
the  streets  in  his  shirt,  with  bare  head,  and 
a  lighted  torch  in  his  hand,  to  ask  on 
bended  knees  the  pardon  of  God,  of  the 
Council,  and  especially  of  Calvin.  Indeed, 
our  Reformer  was  not  only  a  theologian, 
he  was  also  a  politician  of  consummate 
skill,  though  not  a  democrat.  He  had  no 
real  conception  of  the  inalienable  rights  of 
men.     As  M.    Henri    Fazy  has   well   said, 


62  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

"  The  Calvinistic  doctrine  of  predestination 
leads  infallibly  to  aristocratic  despotism."* 
Calvin  believed  as  firmly  in  divinely  in- 
stituted magistrates,  receiving  their  com- 
mission from  on  high,  as  docs  the  Hohen- 
zollern  Emperor  of  to-day.  What  he 
conceived  to  be  right,  he  carried  out  with 
implacable  severity.  Thus  liis  opinions  on 
theological  matters  were  soon  translated 
into  political  acts.  Contrary  to  general 
supposition,  Calvin's  triumph  was  brought 
about  more  by  sul^stituting  Protestant 
immigrants  from  neighboring  countries  for 
the  original  native  population,  than  by 
pious  persuasion.  Exile  and  persecution 
played  a  greater  part  in  transforming 
Geneva  than  religious  convictions. 

Although  the  Reformer's  career  lends 
itself  easily  to  ironical  treatment,  one  must 
not  forget  his  personal  virtues  and  his 
extraordinary  achievements.  During  the 
agitation  of  the  Patriots  and  Libertines,  he 
once    quelled  a  popular  rising  by  walking 

*  Fazy,  Henri.  Les  Constitutions  de  la  Repub- 
lique  de  ("leneve.     p.  47. 


JOHN    CALVIX.  63 

unarmed  into  the  crowd  and  calling  to  the 
people  that,  if  they  wanted  to  shed  blood, 
they  must  begin  with  him.  It  was  a 
fine  moment  in  his  life,  full  of  dramatic 
intensity. 

The  amount  of  work  accomplished  by 
that  frail  body  is  almost  incredible.  Be- 
sides ruling  Geneva,  he  found  time  to  write 
masterpieces  of  theological  discussion, 
which  practically  determined  the  serious 
prose  style  of  the  French  language.  In 
his  exegetical  writings,  like  the  great  body 
of  his  Commentaries,  in  his  doctrinal 
"  Institutes,"  disciplinary  '•  Ordinances," 
polemical  pamphlets,  sermons,  and,  finally, 
in  his  voluminous  letters,  Calvin  has  left 
a  record  of  activity  unsurpassed  by  any 
historical  personage.  His  influence  deter- 
mined the  religious  life  not  only  of  the 
French  Huguenots,  but  also  of  the  Dutch 
Burghers,  English  Puritans,  Scotch  Cov- 
enanters, and  New  England  Pilgrims. 
George  Bancroft,  the  American  historian, 
has  said,  with  some  truth :  "  We  boast  of 
our  common  schools ;  Calvin  was  the  father 
of  popular  education,  the  inventor  of  the 
system  of  free  schools.     We  are  proud  of 


64  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  free  States  that  fringe  the  Atlantic. 
The  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  were  Calvinists; 
the  best  influence  in  South  Carolina  came 
from  the  Calvinists  of  France.  William 
Penn  was  the  disciple  of  the  Huguenots. 
The  ships  that  first  brought  colonists  to 
Manhattan  were  filled  with  Calvinists."  * 

One  great  error  the  modern  world  can 
never  forgive  Calvin;  that  is,  the  execution 
of  Servetus.  Of  course,  it  was  approved  by 
his  contemporaries,  for  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants, at  that  time,  vied  with  each  other 
in  ridding  the  world  of  such  free-thinking 
monstrosities.  It  was  considered  the 
proper  thing,  when  you  could  not  under- 
stand a  man's  reasoning,  and  therefore 
could  not  place  him  in  any  particular  sect,  to 
kill  him  as  a  public  nuisance.  Servetus  was, 
of  course,  far  in  advance  of  his  age.  He 
made  the  mistake  of  expressing  opinions 
that  his  fellow-men  could  not  digest,  and  of 
remaining  aloof  from  all  the  sects,  at  odds 
both  with  Mother  Church  and  the  Reformed 

*  Bancroft,  Genrt^e.  Literary  and  Historical  Mis- 
cellanies.    New  York.     1855.     p.  405. 


JOHN    CALVIN.  65 

branches.  He  was  much  too  radical  a 
person  to  die  a  natural  death  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  Calvin  and  Servetus,  who, 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  were  born  in 
the  same  year,  1509,  had  corresponded  for 
many  years ;  or  rather  the  Spanish  physi- 
cian, geographer,  and  theologian  had  prod- 
ded the  French  Reformer  with  innumerable 
questions,  until  Calvin  had  left  the  letters 
unanswered.  When  there  seemed  to  be  no 
hope  that  Servetus  would  ever  adopt  the 
dogmas  of  a  regular  church,  Calvin  gave 
him  up  in  despair.  He  wrote  to  Farel : 
"He  [Servetus]  offers  to  come  hither,  if  it 
be  agreeable  to  me.  But  I  am  unwilling 
to  pledge  my  word  for  his  safety,  for  if  he 
does  come,  and  my  authority  be  of  any 
avail,  I  shall  never  suffer  him  to  depart 
alive."  Calvin  proved  to  be  as  good  as  his 
word;   he  was  always  eminently  truthful. 

Servetus  was  finally  brought  to  trial  at 
Vienne,  in  France,  on  the  charge  of  heresy, 
the  evidence  being  indirectly  supplied  by 
Calvin.  The  accused  apparently  told  some 
falsehood  in  his  efforts  to  get  off,  but  find- 
ing this  useless,  escaped  from  prison,  and 
not  long  after  turned  up  in  Geneva,  where 
5 


66  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

he  was  immediately  arrested  by  order  of 
Calvin. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  classify  the 
religious  belief  of  Scrvetus  among  the  theo- 
logical systems  of  the  world.  It  was  a 
sort  of  compound  of  Unitarianism  and 
Theosophy;  in  any  case,  it  was  very  mod- 
ern. He  denied  the  divinity  of  the  Trinitv, 
and  declared  that  "  all  creatures  are  of  the 
substance  of  God,  and  that  (iod  is  in  all 
things."  Such  ideas  were  enougli  to  bring 
him  to  the  stake,  apart  altogether  from  his 
conduct,  which  was  violent,  arrogant,  and 
at  times  even  tinged  with  insanity. 

The  trial  was  conducted  with  great  bitter- 
ness on  both  sides.  Servetus  vv-as  satirical 
and  abusive,  but  when  his  sentence  was 
pronounced,  broke  into  loud  lamentations. 
Calvin  asked  that  the  sword  be  substituted 
for  fire,  but  his  request  was  not  granted  ; 
and  so,  on  the  27th  of  October,  1553,  a 
ghastlv  procession  wound  up  to  the  Place 
de  Champel,  where  the  execution  was  to 
take  place.  Arrived  at  the  funeral  pile, 
Farcl  and  the  people  united  in  prayer  with 
Servetus,  now  completely  humbled.  "The 
executioner  fastens   him   l)v  iron   chains  to 


JOHN   CALVIN.  67 

the  stake  amidst  the  fagots,  puts  a  crown 
of  leaves  covered  with  sulphur  on  his  head, 
and  binds  his  book  by  his  side.  The  sight 
of  the  flaming  torch  extorts  from  him  a 
piercing  shriek  of  'misericordias' in  his 
native  tongue.  The  spectators  fall  back 
with  a  shudder.  The  flames  soon  reach 
him,  and  consume  his  mortal  frame,  in  the 
forty-fourth  year  of  his  fitful  life.  In  the 
last  moment  he  was  heard  to  pray,  in 
smoke  and  agony,  with  a  loud  voice,  'Jesus 
Christ,  thou  Son  of  the  eternal  God,  have 
mercy  upon  me.'  "  * 

Calvin  died  eleven  years  after,  peace- 
fully, in  his  bed,  of  a  lingering  illness, 
surrounded  by  his  friends,  and  dictating 
up  to  the  last  hours.  He  is  now  chiefly 
remembered  as  a  very  saintly  man,  who 
fastened  upon  the  world  more  securely 
than  any  other  man  had  done  the  doctrine 
of  predestination  to  eternal  damnation. 

*  Schaff,  Philip.  The  Swiss  Reformation.  New 
York.     1892.     p.  785. 


68  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 


II.  —  Horace  B^n^dict  de   Saussure 
(1740-1799-) 

The  subduer  of  Mont  Blanc  was  at  the 
same  time  the  pioneer  of  those  climbing 
scientists  who  have  explored  the  Alps  in 
this  century,  —  the  predecessor  of  Agassiz 
and  Tyndall.  His  ancestors  had  fled  from 
France  to  Switzerland  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he 
began  his  journeys  into  the  Alpine  regions, 
traversing  the  principal  chains  in  Western 
Europe,  with  mineral-hammer  and  note- 
book in  hand.  The"\"oyage  dans  les 
Alpes  "  is  the  record  of  these  trips.  De 
Saussure's  famous  ascent  of  Mont  Blanc 
was  accomplished  in  1787,  after  four  fail- 
ures. He  was  accompanied  by  Balmat, 
the  chamois-hunter,  who  had  reached  the 
summit  for  the  first  time  the  year  before  ; 
and  the  monument  at  Chamonix,  erected 
on  the  centenary  celebration  of  this  event, 
represents  the  two  men  sharing  the  honor 
together. 

De  Saussure  was  primarily  an  investiga- 
tor, an  objective  observer  of    natural  phe- 


SAUSSURE.  69 

nomena,  a  sort  of  scientific  realist.  His 
work  was  mainly  experimental,  for  his 
chief  aim  was  to  collect  facts.  If  his 
literary  style  is,  perhaps,  a  little  formal 
and  precise,  one  cannot  complain  of  that, 
since  he  was  too  conscientious  to  allow  his 
imagination  full  scope.  The  fact  remains 
that  he  was  the  great  Revcaler  of  the 
Alps  to  his  contemporaries,  the  man  who 
founded  the  modern  scliool  of  serious  re- 
search in  the  mountains,  as  well  as  the  cult 
of  climbing  for  a  pastime. 

Two  other  men  were  associated  with  De 
Saussure  in  this  work  of  popularizing  the 
Alps,  —  his  uncle,  Charles  Bonnet  (1720- 
1793),  and  his  travelling  companion  upon 
many  expeditions.  Marc  Th(5odore  Bourrit 
( 1 739-1 8 1 9).  The  former  was  content  to 
spend  most  of  his  life  in  his  retreat  at 
Genthod,  on  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  between 
Bellevue  and  Versoix.  He  wrote  a  num- 
ber of  works,  much  talked  of  in  their  daj-, 
on  a  variety  of  scientific  and  philosophical 
subjects,  from  insectology  to  psychology. 
Whereas  De  Saussure  was  essentially  a 
gleaner  of  facts,  Bonnet  had  a  turn  for 
generalization  and  speculation.     His  hypo- 


70  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

theses  were  always  interesting,  but  some- 
times hazardous ;  and  Voltaire,  who  disliked 
him,  on  several  occasions  jumped  at  the 
chance  of  making  fun  of  him.  Bourrit, 
though  lacking  De  Saussure's  intimate 
knowledge  of  phenomena,  and  Bonnet's 
philosophic  conceptions,  threw  himself 
with  much  enthusiasm  into  the  work  of 
describing  mountain  scenery.  His  effu- 
sions now  read  a  little  wild  and  incoherent, 
in  this  age  of  the  regular  Swiss  tour  and 
of  the  Alpine  Club,  but  nevertheless  they 
played  no  mean  part  in  kindling  a  real 
sentiment  in  favor  of  mountaineeriner. 


III.  — Jacques  Mallet-Dupan. 
(i  749-1 800.) 

Next  to  Joseph  de  .Maistre,  Mallet' 
Dupan  was  certainly  the  keenest  critic 
whom  the  French  Revolution  encountered. 
He  was  the  complete  pamphleteer  of  his 
day,  by  turns  sarcastic  or  vehement,  but 
always  full  of  rhetorical  resource.  Rous- 
seau and  Voltaire  had  no  opponent  more 
bitter,  their  doctrines  no  judge   more  piti- 


SISMOXDI.  71 

less,  than  this  courageous  Conservative. 
As  political  editor  of  the  '•  Mercure  de 
France,"  his  influence  was  so  great,  that  he 
became  in  one  sense  the  very  head  of  the 
Counter-Revolution.  Born  at  Ccligny,  near 
Geneva,  and  dying  in  London,  Alallet- 
Dupan  was  one  of  the  many  men  of  talent, 
who  have  gone  forth  from  the  little  city  of 
Calvin  to  create  for  themselves  a  cosmo- 
politan career. 


IV.— Jean  Charles  Leonard  Sismonde 
DE  SiSMONDi.     (i 773-1842.) 

Historian  and  political  economist,  travel- 
ler and  spectator  of  historical  scenes,  friend 
of  Napoleon,  frequenter  of  the  salons,  and 
guest  of  Madame  de  Stael.  —  what  remains 
most  worthy  in  the  life  of  .Sismondi  ?  On 
the  whole,  his  labor  in  the  cause  of  the 
conimon  people  will  be  remembered  long- 
est. Amiel  says  :  "  His  love  for  men  on 
the  one  side,  and  liis  passion  for  work  on 
the  other,  are  the  two  factors  in  his  fame." 
It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  Sismondi 
was  a  genius  ;  his  journal  and  correspond- 


72  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

ence  reveal  him  rather  as  an  upright  man, 
made  illustrious  by  a  beautiful  common- 
sense  that  inspired  confidence.  He  mar- 
ried an  English  lady  of  strong  religious 
tendency,  he  himself  professing  a  belief 
which  closely  resembled  that  of  Channing. 
As  political  economist,  he  rejected  the 
individualism  of  Adam  Smith,  and  turned 
towards  State  socialism  for  a  solution  of 
industrial  and  political  problems.  His 
'•  Nouveaux  Principes  d'Economie  Poli- 
tique" deserves  to  rank  among  the  first 
attempts  made  to  formulate  the  doctrines 
of  that  school  of  thought. 


V.  —  RODOLPHE    TOPFFER. 

(1 799-1 846.) 

One  cannot  be  too  chary  in  comparing 
men  of  different  nationalities  with  each 
other.  There  are  always  so  many  reserva- 
tions to  be  made,  that  analogies  sometimes 
prove  more  misleading  than  helpful.  And 
yet  a  concise  characterization  of  this  sort 
often  serves  the  purpose  of  a  long  descrip- 
tion.    When   Topffer  is    described  as  the 


RODOLPHE   TOPFFER.  73 

'•  Swiss  Dickens,"  one  must  not  criticise  the 
details  of  this  resemblance  too  closely,  for 
the  humor  of  the  two  men  is  at  bottom  of 
the  same  type.  It  is  not  French  wit,  incis- 
ive and  cold,  delicately  prepared  and  neatly 
served,  it  is  rather  Teutonic  drollery,  that 
alternates  between  fun  and  pathos,  between 
laughter  and  tears. 

As  for  the  rest,  Topffer  was  of  German 
origin.  His  grandfather  was  a  tailor  from 
Schweinfurt,  who  settled  in  Geneva.  It  is 
said  that  he  early  displayed  his  talent  for 
caricature  by  scribbling  on  his  school- 
books.  Although  educated  to  be  a  painter, 
Topffer  was  obliged  to  renounce  this  career 
on  account  of  diseased  eyes.  He  mounted 
little  plays,  and,  after  a  visit  to  Paris,  began 
to  write  art-criticisms,  marked  by  a  great 
deal  of  dash  and  originality.  Then  he 
became  a  schoolmaster;  and  it  was  while 
travelling  with  his  pupils  that  he  produced 
his  '•  Voyages  en  Zigzag."  Topffer  next 
turned  his  hand  to  novel-writing,  bringing 
out  quite  a  collection,  the  "  Nouvelles  G^- 
nevoises "  among  others.  In  his  seven 
books  of  Caricatures,  he  ridiculed  contem- 
porary  life  in  a  delicious,  rollicking  vein 


74  KOMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

that  was  quite  new  to  his  staid  fellow- 
citizens.  As  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  the 
Academy,  he  was,  on  the  other  hand, 
distinctly  unpopular.  The  latter  part  of 
his  life  was  embittered  by  the  factional 
fight  which  broke  out  in  1846,  and  ended 
in  the  triumph  of  the  Radicals  under 
James  Fazy.  Topffcr  was  a  violent,  unrea- 
soning Conservative  in  politics,  but  in  art 
and  literature  a  lirst-rate  innovator. 


VI.  —  Henri  Frederic  Amiel. 
(1821-1881.) 

This  extraordinary  man  has  been  happily 
styled  '-A  Swiss  Thoreau."*  Those  who 
are  familiar  with  Amiel's  "Journal  Intime" 
will  immediately  recognize  the  singular 
appropriateness  of  this  title. 

The  Genevese  professor  had  the  same 
genius  for  interpreting  the  moods  of  Nature 
as  Thoreau,  the  Yankee  recluse;  the  same 
abnormal  power  of  abstraction,  and  the 
same    unwholesome    slirinking    from     the 

*  Leiglitnn,  Caroline  C.  A  Swiss  Thoreau.  Bos- 
ton.     iSyo,      raniphlet. 


HEXKI    FREDERIC    AMIEL.  75 

active  interests  of  life.  Both  men  were 
examples  of  what  has  been  styled  "the 
sterility  of  genius."  They  might  have 
been  successful  men  of  letters,  or  perhaps 
artists,  but  preferred  to  remain  almost 
unknown  during  lifetime,  in  order  to  reveal 
their  thoughts  to  posterity  in  journals. 
Amiel  left  us  a  literary  legacy  of  seventeen 
thousand  folio  pages,  and  Thoreau  forty 
note-books.  As  types,  they  stand  almost 
alone  in  recorded  writings,  —  intensely  indi- 
vidualistic, even  to  the  point  of  egotism; 
seeking  untiringly  for  the  truth,  and  yet 
with  little  regard  for  others  ;  filled  with 
lofty  ideals,  but  suffering  from  a  paralysis 
of  the  will  to  act ;  dreaming  dreams  of 
ecstatic  import,  and  satisfied  with  the  study 
of  self.  It  is  only  natural  that  a  certain 
morbidness  should  have  marred  their  lives. 
Amiel's  ancestors,  like  Sismondi's,  had 
come  from  Languedoc,  after  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  At  the  age  of 
twelve,  he  was  left  an  orphan,  —  a  delicate, 
dreamy  child,  impressionable  and  reli- 
giously inclined.  From  1842  to  1848  were 
his  IVaiidcrjaJire,  during  which  he  trav- 
elled  extensively  in    vacations,   and   spent 


76  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

most  of  his  term-time  studying  in  Berlin. 
Returning  to  Geneva  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
eight,  he  secured  an  appointment  as  Pro- 
fessor of  /Esthetics  and  French  Literature 
at  the  Academy  of  Geneva,  exchanging  it 
six  years  later  for  the  professorship  of 
Moral  Philosophy.  M.  Edmond  Scherer, 
his  friend  and  biographer,  says  of  him 
at  this  time :  "  In  his  young  alertness, 
Amiel  seemed  to  be  entering  upon  life  as  a 
conqueror;  one  would  have  said  the  future 
was  all  his  own." 

How  completely  Amiel  disappointed  the 
hopes  of  his  friend  !  His  position  at  the 
Academy  apparently  ostracized  him  from 
congenial  society,  for  it  had  come  through 
the  influence  of  the  Radicals,  then  in 
power;  and  therefore  the  doors  of  the  old 
intellectual  aristocracy  of  Geneva  were 
closed  against  him.  He  himself  was  not 
enough  of  a  man  of  affairs  to  feel  any 
sympathy  with  Radicalism,  and  so  he  virtu- 
ally fell  between  two  stools.  Beyond  a 
few  articles  in  the  reviews,  and  occasional 
verses,  his  life  was  barren  of  literarv  pub- 
lications. His  lectures  were  not  popular, 
for  he   was  afraid  of  handling  his  subjects 


HEN'RI    FREDERIC    AMIEL.  "]"] 

with  persuasiveness.  '•  I  hate  everything 
that  savors  of  cajoHng.  ...  A  professor 
is  the  priest  of  his  subject,  and  should  do 
the  honors  of  it  gravely  and  with  dignity." 
Thus  isolated,  and  thrown  upon  himself, 
he  confided  his  aspirations  to  a  Journal, 
written  at  odd  moments  after  the  day's 
work  was  done. 

In  the  very  opening  words  of  his  now 
famous  book,  Amiel  struck  the  key-note  of 
his  being  :  '•  There  is  but  one  thing  needful, 
to  possess  God."  That  was  ever  the  utmost 
aim  of  his  groping,  melancholy  soul,  the 
object  of  his  unremitting,  cheerless  crav- 
ing, and  the  subject  of  his  worshipful  day- 
dreams. But  one  thing  Amiel  lacked  :  and 
that  was  love.  '•  Love  could  have  done 
everything  for  me,"'  he  mourned,  towards 
the  last.  He  searched  for  God  alone,  with- 
out help  of  his  fdlow-men.  He  did  not 
sufficiently  realize,  until  his  later  days,  that 
the  chief  manifestation  of  God  was  in 
mankind  itself :  that  He  is  best  found  in 
the  image  He  has  created. 

Like  Thoreau.  he  turned  to  Nature  for 
consolation.  Indeed,  no  man  has  ever 
expressed   more    perfectly  the    philosophic 


78  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

aspect  of  inanimate  things.  "  Every  land- 
scape is,  as  it  were,  a  state  of  the  soul. 
To  open  one's  heart  in  purity  to  this  ever 
pure  Nature,  to  allow  this  immortal  life  ol 
things  to  penetrate  into  one's  soul,  is  at  the 
same  time  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  God.'' 
There  is  something  Buddhistic  in  the  rap- 
ture of  his  silent  reveries.  Amiel  for  years 
contended  against  weak  health,  unlike 
Thoreau,  who  knew  little  of  sorrow  and 
sickness.  He  finally  succumbed  to  heart 
disease  at  the  age  of  sixty,  leaving  behind 
him  his  Journal,  a  collection  of  indifferent 
verses, —  "Grains  de  Mil"  and  "Jour  h 
Jour,"  —  and  the  reputation  of  having  been 
a  man  of  great  promise,  who  had  been  alto- 
gether unsuccessful.  In  1882,  M.  Edmond 
Scherer,  the  eminent  French  critic,  issued 
the  "Journal  Intime,"  with  a  long  introduc- 
tion. Renan  and  Paul  Bourget  were  suin- 
ciently  impressed  by  it  to  declare  their 
profound  interest;  and  in  1885,  Mrs.  Hum- 
phrey Ward,  attracted  by  the  strange  psy- 
chological case  it  presented,  translated  the 
Journal  into  English.  Of  the  style,  it  need 
only  be  said  that  it  vibrates  with  a  mar- 
vellous    poetic     feeling.        French     critics 


HENRI    FKKd£rIC    AMIEL.  79 

cannot,  naturally  enough,  quite  forgive 
Amiel  his  many  Germanisms,  caught  from 
his  student  days  in  Berlin.  Mrs.  Ward 
thinks  that  "Amiel  makes  another  link  in 
a  special  tradition ;  he  adds  another  name 
to  the  list  of  those  who  have  won  a  hearing 
from  their  fellows  as  interpreters  of  the 
inner  life,  as  the  revealer  of  man  to  him- 
self." Beside  the  sensualisms  of  Rousseau's 
"Confessions"  and  the  hysterical  revela- 
tions of  a  Marie  Bashkirtseff,  Amiel's  spir- 
itual struggles  seem  like  the  scent  of  spring 
flowers  after  the  rank  odors  of  tropical 
plants.  He  was  no  preacher,  like  Emerson 
and  Carlyle,  but  perhaps  fulfilled  as  noble 
a  mission  in  merely  laying  bare  his  soul. 
"  Let  the  living  live,"  he  once  comforted 
himself,  "and  you,  gather  together  your 
thoughts,  leave  behind  you  a  legacy  of 
feeling  and  ideas ;  you  will  be  most  useful 
so."  And,  in  truth,  when  he  came  to  die, 
he  looked  forward  to  the  end  without 
regret.  He  could  say  in  his  final  verdict, 
"  I  have  been  throughout  in  harmony  with 
my  best  self." 

He  lies  buried  in  the  little  churchyard  at 
Clarens,  this  heavenly  aspirant,  who  was  a 


8o  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

worldly  failure.  Let  us  remember  him  as 
he  once  described  himself :  •■  I  have  been 
dreaming,  my  head  in  my  hands.  About 
what?  About  happiness.  I  have  been 
asleep,  as  it  were,  on  the  fatherly  breast  of 
God.  His  will  be  done."  It  is  there  that 
he  is  resting  now  from  his  unequal  contest 
here  below. 


VII.  —  Marc   IMonnier, 
(1829-1885.) 

Geneva  has  produced  no  literary  person- 
age in  recent  years  who  can  compare  with 
Marc  Monnier  for  a  certain  alertness  and 
gayety  of  intellect.  This  poet-traveller  was 
the  very  opposite  of  Amiel,  his  colleague  in 
the  University  of  Geneva. 

Marc  Monnier  was  born  in  Florence  of 
a  French  father  and  a  Genevese  mother, 
spent  his  youth  in  Italy,  studied  at  the 
German  universities,  and  settled  in  Geneva 
in  1864.  Ten  years  later  he  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Comparative  Literature  in  what 
was  then  the  Academy,  and  later  became 
the  University.     He  was  a  delightful  con- 


MARC   MONNIER.  8l 

versationalist,  and  in  his  lectures  charmed 
and  stimulated  the  students,  as  much  as 
Amiel  bored  them.  His  mind  was  pre- 
eminently that  of  an  artist,  —  not  over  pro- 
found, but  vigorous  and  versatile.  Besides 
his  numerous  books  on  Italy,  he  wrote 
verses  which  are  full  of  true  poetic  per- 
fume. His  collection  of  miniature  come- 
dies, entitled  "Theatre  des  Marionettes," 
are  delicious  little  bits,  distinguished  by 
that  dainty  mockery  which  the  French  call 
malice. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   TOUR    OF    LAKE   LEMAN. 

SINCE  1816,  when  Byron  and  Shelley 
spent  a  week  circling  the  lake  in  a 
rowboat,  more  than  one  method  has  been 
invented  o£  making  the  same  trip  in  a  frac- 
tion of  that  time.  The  steamboats  have 
come,  as  well  as  the  railroads,  on  the  Swiss 
and  Savoy  sides,  and  then  the  bicycle  too. 
Only,  if  you  choose  this  last  vehicle,  they 
say  you  must  put  your  machine  under  the 
seal  of  the  custom-house,  to  show  that  you 
are  not  going  to  sell  it  when  you  get  into 
France,  and  thus  bring  ruin  upon  the  infant 
bicycle  industry  of  that  country.  On  the 
whole,  most  of  us  will  choose  the  express 
steamboat  that  starts  from  Geneva  in  the 
morning,  and,  touching  only  at  the  principal 
points,  returns  at  dusk. 

And,  really,  when  the  bell  in  the  bow  has 
rung  its  last  tuneful  warning,  and  the  gang- 
way has  been  drawn  off  with  a  mighty  jerk 


THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAN.     83 

and  much  clanking  of  chains,  you  have  a 
right  to  congratulate  yourself  upon  having 
chosen  the  boat  in  preference  to  the  bicycle. 
For  the  awning  over  the  deck  flaps  ner- 
vously in  the  morning  air,  the  water  sparkles 
joyously  to  the  sun,  and  there  is  only  just 
enough  motion  to  show  that  you  are  really 
travelling.  It  is  the  acme  of  luxurious 
sight-seeing. 

A  little  Italian  band  loses  no  time  in 
striking  up  its  tinkling  medley  of  harp, 
guitars,  and  mandolins,  while  the  passen- 
gers subside,  one  by  one,  into  their  seats 
for  the  long  trip.  Of  course,  that  curious 
assortment  of  nationalities  which  consti- 
tutes the  travelling  public  in  Switzerland 
is  well  represented.  In  fact,  were  it  not 
for  the  Swiss  captain  and  crew,  one  v.'ould 
be  at  a  loss  to  guess  what  flag  ought  to 
float  from  the  stern. 

Once  outside  the  jettv,  the  boat  glides 
along  the  Swiss  shore,  sown  with  country- 
seats  in  the  midst  of  park-like  grounds. 
The  villa  of  Baroness  Adolphe  de  Roth- 
schild shines  from  an  eminence.  At  Belle- 
vue   many  handsome   yachts    are   moored; 


84  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

and  near  Versoix  lies  Prangins,  the  some- 
wliat  uninviting  residence  of  the  late  Prince 
Jerome  Bonaparte.  In  the  mean  time,  the 
Savoy  side  is  seen  to  be  more  rustic  and 
rugged.  There  are  steep  banks  of  vine- 
yards, and  then  a  succession  of  waterside 
hamlets,  —  La  Bellotte,  Bellerive,  and  others, 
-  poor  and  lowly  places,  where  fishing  and 
farming  seem  to  claim  about  equal  portions 
of  the  people's  time. 

And  all  the  while  the  stern  of  the  boat 
pays  out  a  lengthening  wake  of  white 
foam,  back  through  the  blue  of  the  lake  to 
Geneva,  fading  in  the  distance.  The  water 
deepens  in  color  as  the  bise  freshens,  taking 
on  a  silvery  sheen  that  suggests  the  reflec- 
tions in  glacier  crevasses.  Barges  bear 
down  before  the  wind,  or  tack  at  various 
angles,  their  lateen  sails  tilted  like  the  arms 
of  a  Dutch  windmill.  The  long  treeless 
range  of  the  Jura  glows  with  the  glinting  sun- 
light upon  its  slopes.  It  is  all  unspeakably 
vivid,  like  a  bit  of  Levantine  Mediterranean, 
with  mountains  added  for  a  background. 

At  Coppet,  the  chateau  of  Madame  de 
Stael    barely    shows    above    the    tree-tops. 


THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAX.     85 

Nyon  displays  some  old  Iiouses  on  the 
water-front,  with  bits  of  color  on  their  bal- 
conies, or  green  blinds  and  tiapping  ends 
of  bunting.  The  castle,  with  its  towers, 
frowns  above  in  fine,  old-fashioned  pride ; 
and  the  ancient  ramparts  have  been  con- 
verted into  the  most  delightful  of  arbored 
walks,  whence  Mont  Blanc  can  be  seen  to 
the  best  advantage. 

Nyon  was  originally  a  primitive  Celtic 
town.  Julius  Caesar  made  a  Roman  mili- 
tary colony  of  it,  and  its  castle  was  the 
seat  of  Bernese  bailiffs  before  the  over- 
throw of  the  old  Confederation.  Charles 
Victor  de  Bonstetten,  author  and  favored 
guest  at  Madame  de  Stael's  chateau,  was 
incumbent  of  this  office  for  a  time.  One 
night  he  was  notified  that  a  shabbily 
dressed  man  wished  to  see  him  in  the 
garden  pavilion.  "  I  am  Carnot,"  said  the 
forlorn  individual  to  Bonstetten.  "  I  beg 
for  food  and  shelter,  for  I  am  starving." 
The  great  military  organizer  of  the  Revo- 
lution was  escaping  from  France,  driven 
out  by  one  of  the  sudden  changes  in  that 
upheaval.  Bonstetten  promptly  took  him 
in,  and,  in  spite  of  his  official  capacity,  pro- 


86  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

vided  him  with  a  false  passport.  It  is 
pleasant  to  know  that  when  Carnot  was 
once  more  in  jjower,  he  invited  Bonstetten 
to  Paris,  and  showed  his  gratitude  in  a 
handsome  manner. 

Farther  on,  RoUe  has  an  islet  that  is 
adorned  with  an  obelisk  in  memory  of 
Frederic  Cdsar  Laharpe,  —  the  man  who, 
though  a  fierce  Republican,  was  tutor  to 
the  Fmperor  Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  and 
though  a  devout  friend  of  his  imperial 
master,  was  none  the  less  an  implacable 
leader  in  the  revolt  of  Vaud  against  Bern. 
Morges,  too,  with  its  old  chateau  and  new 
quay,  lures  us  to  stop  ;  while  the  crenel- 
lated castle  of  Vufflens,  on  a  height  to  the 
north,  deserves  a  special  visit,  not  only 
for  its  quite  unauthentic  reminiscences  of 
Queen  Bertha  of  Burgundy,  but  also  be- 
cause this  "pearl  of  the  land  of  Vaud" 
ranks,  with  Chillon  and  Gruyeres,  among 
the  noblest  specimens  of  feudal  architecture 
in  Switzerland. 

But  the  boat  steers  for  the  Savoy  shore, 
and  all  is  changed  as  by  enchantment. 
The  rugged  peaks  of  the  Chablais  impose 


THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAN.     87 

themselves,  and  alter  the  key  in  which  the 
landscape  is  pitched.  Stacks  of  lumber 
float  at  the  mouth  of  a  torrent;  poplars 
line  the  roadsides  ;  a  flock  of  sheep  sit 
in  the  shadow  of  great  oaks.  The  sum- 
mer pastures  smile  from  their  lofty  slopes, 
and  the  rocks  glisten  with  the  melting 
snow. 

Thonon  is  in  France;  the  hat  of  the 
gendarme  on  the  pier  proves  that  conclu- 
sively. But  Evian  is  more  unmistakably 
French  still,  with  its  casino,  its  little  park, 
and  crowds  of  real  holiday-makers.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Evian  suggests  a  typical  old 
Savoyard  village,  galvanized  into  a  summer 
resort  by  the  infusion  of  hotels  and  Parisian 
toilets. 

Not  till  we  have  touched  at  these  two 
ports  will  the  boat  consent  to  turn  again,  — 
this  time  straight  across  to  Lausanne,  where 
that  town  lies  on  the  vine-clad  slope  of 
Mont  Jorat,  enveloped  at  this  distance  in 
a  vague  haze.  Unlike  Geneva  and  Neu- 
chatel,  which  it  resembles  in  a  general  way, 
Lausanne  is  not  compactly  grouped,  but 
straggles  up  and  down,  in  and  out,  in  irregu- 
lar patches.     Dumas  in  his  day  (1833)  said 


88  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

its  "white  houses  su^ 
of  swans  drying  themselves  in  the  sun."'* 
It  is  only  when  you  are  quite  near,  that  you 
see  the  stately  stretches  of  new  terraces, 
and  the  central  nucleus  of  housetops,  gath- 
ered around  the  cathedral  and  the  castle. 
Ouchy,  the  harbor  village,  looks  bare  and 
unattractive.  There  is,  however,  the  fine 
Hotel  Beaurivage  to  the  right;  and  they 
have  built  an  enormous  modern  addition  to 
the  ancient  tower,  which  used  to  face  you, 
so  grim  and  solitary,  as  you  landed.  Most 
people  will  also  want  to  see  the  Anchor 
Inn,  where  Byron  wrote  that  charming  and 
most  misleading  poem  of  his  on  '•  The 
Prisoner  of  Chillon."' 

Lausanne  may  be  a  very  charming  place 
to  linger  in,  but  the  boat  does  not  stop 
long,  for  Vevey  and  Montreux  are  farther 
up  the  lake,  each  with  well-established 
claims  to  be  considered. 

We  skirt  the  wine-bearing  slopes  of  \'aux, 
pass  little  St.  Saphorin,  with  its  curious  old 
church,  and  finally  touch  at  Vevey.  It 
would    be    hard    to    find    any    place    more 

*  Impressions  de  Voyages,  —  Suisse;  Paris.  1S74, 
Vol.  i.,  p.  52. 


1 

^^^  i  y 

^^^Kk<'.>^X4-                                         .P^^^l 

i 

/   -  1: 

THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAN.     89 

quaintly  cosey  and  neat,  than  this  lalvtside 
townlet.  You  just  have  time  to  see  an  old 
quay  with  lofty  shade-trees,  that  has  the 
ornate  Chateau  de  I'Aile  in  one  corner; 
back  of  that  an  enormous  open  market 
place,  topped  by  a  funny  little  corn-hall  of 
many  columns.  The  fine  square  tower  of 
St.  Martin  looms  upon  its  terrace.  Farther 
along,  a  narrow  miniature  quay,  planted 
with  trees,  carefully  trimmed ;  then  a  grav- 
elly beach,  held  in  full  possession  by  jab- 
bering washerwomen;  a  swimming  bath; 
and  finally  an  old  romantic  tower,  the  Tour 
de  Peilz,  —  such  is  the  view  of  Vevey  from 
the  lake. 

Some  distance  back  and  above  the  town, 
the  old  castle  of  Blonay  reposes  among 
great  trees  upon  the  hillside.  Before  the 
boat  reaches  its  next  stopping-place,  there 
is  just  time  to  tell  a  story  about  it. 

The  Blonays  came  from  across  the  lake 
in  Chablais,  and  built  this  castle  in  11 75. 
Being  feudal  followers  of  the  Counts  of 
Savoy,  they  filled  various  important  offices 
in  the  land  of  Vaud.  On  one  occasion, 
several  knights,  at  Turin,  got  disputing 
about  the  military  prowess  of  married  men 


90  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAXD. 

versus  baclielors.  It  was  a  theme  capable 
of  producing  a  very  large  crop  of  duels, 
and  so  it  was  decided  that  champions 
should  represent  the  two  sides.  Simon 
de  Blonay  was  chosen  to  fight  the  cause 
of  the  married  men,  Corsaut  de  Bresse 
that  of  the  bachelors.  The  conditions 
were  that  if  the  married  knight  was  de- 
feated, he  should  go  cry  mercy  of  Made- 
moiselle of  Savoy  and  all  other  marriage- 
able ladies  of  that  house,  as  well  as  of 
another  lady,  to  be  specified  by  the  victor. 
The  bachelor  knight,  if  defeated,  should 
humiliate  himself  before  all  the  married 
ladies  of  the  ducal  house,  and  especially 
before  the  wife  of  his  conqueror. 

Well,  the  married  champion  won,  and 
the  defeated  bachelor  rode  off  to  perform 
his  act  of  forfeit.  After  his  visits  in 
Savoy,  he  repaired  to  the  land  of  \'aud, 
and  found  Madame  de  Blonay  sitting  on  her 
castle  terrace,  with  her  baby  on  her  knee. 
Thrice  De  Bresse  cried  for  mercy,  in 
humble  attitude,  to  the  great  embarrass- 
ment of  the  sweet  lady.  But  when  an 
explanation  had  been  given,  Madame  de 
Blonay,   good    woman    as   she   was,  imme 


THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAN.     9I 

diately  got  an  idea:  she  invited  the  neigh- 
boring nobility  to  a  feast,  and  sat  her 
cousin,  Yolande  de  Villette,  by  her  side. 
There  was,  of  course,  a  good  deal  of  chaff- 
ing at  the  expense  of  bachelors.  De 
Bresse,  not  to  be  outdone,  acknowledged 
that  it  was  about  time  for  him  to  marry, 
and  actually  looked  at  Yolande  in  the  most 
significant  way  imaginable,  so  that,  in  fact, 
the  young  lady  turned  scarlet  and  heaved 
a  sigh.  It  was  all  arranged  between  the 
two  young  people,  with  the  consent  of 
Madame  de  Blonay,  after  the  guests  had 
gone  ;  and  so  the  champion  of  the  bache- 
lors was  twice  defeated,  in  war  and  love. 

The  bise  sometimes  blows  at  Vevey, 
though  not  so  often  as  at  Lausanne  and 
Geneva;  and  people  who  are  afraid  of  it, 
prefer  to  stay  somewhere  in  that  heaven- 
blessed  corner,  called  Montreux,  which  the 
northeast  wind  can  never  reach.  The 
explanation  of  this  immunity  is  very  sim- 
ple. That  whole  strip  of  land  with  a 
southern  exposure,  from  Clarens  to  Ville- 
neuve,  including  the  steep  slopes  up  to 
Glion  and   Les  Avants,  is  completely  shel- 


92  ROMANCE  s\v!tzp:klaxi:). 

tered  by  the  mountains  of  Gruyere.  Hotels 
and  vineyards  dispute  with  each  other  for 
a  foothold  upon  the  mountain-side.  A  min- 
iature Alpine  Riviera  has  developed  there, 
with  a  fashionable  winter  season,  a  grape- 
cure  peculiar  to  itself,  a  Kursaal,  and 
plenty  of  cheap  pensions.  All  the  points 
along  this  narrow  lake-front  are  kept  in 
constant  communication  by  a  bewildering 
profusion  of  systems,  —  a  carriage-road,  a 
railroad,  an  electric-car  service,  and  steam- 
boats running  on  schedule  time.  Nothing 
like  it  was  ever  dreamed  of  before.  It 
is  the  culminating  perfection  of  rapid 
transit. 

At  Montreux,  you  have  the  choice  of 
staying  on  the  boat,  which  goes  over  to 
Villeneuve  and  Bouveret,  or  getting  off 
and  taking  the  cable-car  to  Glion.  P'rom 
up  there,  the  incomparable  magnificence  of 
the  view  is  disclosed  with  startling  effect. 
The  peaks  of  Savov  rear  themselves  in 
bristling  array  for  a  background.  To  the 
south,  \'illeneuvc  lies  dead  and  grim  ;  the 
valley  of  the  Rhone  stretches  beyond  ;  the 
river  runs  in  its  artificial  l)ed,  then  shoots 
in  a  muddy  line  straight  out   into  the  lake. 


THE  TOUR  OF  LAKE  LEMAN.     93 

Nearer  by,  compact  Chillon  stands  in  the 
opaque,  blue  water.  To  the  west  is  Vevey, 
and  after  that  the  lake  and  its  shores  are  lost 
in  a  veil  of  mist.  It  is  all  surpassingly  beau- 
tiful. From  the  Rochers  de  Naye,  above, 
to  which  a  cogwheel  railroad  now  runs,  the 
view  is  the  same  in  character,  but  more 
extended.  There  is  no  time,  however,  to 
make  this  excursion  before  the  boat  re- 
turns on  its  homeward  stretch.  Perhaps 
you  can  have  a  hurried  glance  at  Chillon, 
but  you  really  ought  to  have  leisure  to  ex- 
amine the  five  subterranean  rooms  in  detail, 
the  path  worn  by  lionivard,  the  famous 
names  scratched  on  the  pillars, — Byron, 
Shelley,  Dumas,  Victor  Hugo,  and  (ieorge 
Sand.  The  cantonal  policeman  who 
guards  the  entrance  will  not  fail  to  display 
a  great  deal  of  official  pomposity  ;  and  this 
will  remind  you  irresistibly  of  how  Daudet's 
hero,  poor  Tartarin,  was  arrested  for  sup- 
posed complicity  in  Nihilistic  outrages,  and 
incarcerated  in  the  dungeon  of  Bonivard  by 
this  very  policeman.  It  must  be  the  same 
man.  for  he  is  the  image  of  the  one  who 
appears  in  the  illustration  in  "  Tartarin  sur 
tes  Alpes.'" 


94  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

The  return  trip  is,  of  course,  a  good  deal 
of  a  repetition,  only  the  places  have  put  on 
their  afternoon  colors,  and  the  people  their 
afternoon  expressions.  Wlicn  the  boat 
finally  nears  Geneva,  Mont  Blanc  will  be 
seen  in  the  act  of  shifting  its  sunset  shades 
of  red,  one  upon  another:  but  as  you  land, 
it  will  have  finished,  and  will  hang  in  mid- 
air like  a  great  white  spirit,  supported  by 
bands  of  grayish  clouds.  Then  even  the 
last  passengers,  who  have  insisted  all  along 
upon  their  money's  worth,  rise  from  the 
benches,  stretch  themselves,  and  mingle 
with  the  evening  crowd  on  the  quays  of 
Geneva. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

TWO   VINEYARD   TOWNS   OF   VAUD. 

IT  is  not  enough  to  see  Lausanne  and 
Vevey  from  the  deck  of  a  passing 
steamboat,  one  must  know  them  from  the 
inside,  to  realize  their  enduring  charms. 

The  truth  is,  this  whole  lakeside  district 
of  Canton  Vaud  bears  the  impress  of  the 
utmost  originality.  It  is  a  sunny,  southern 
land,  under  the  shelter  of  kindly  moun- 
tains, consecrated  from  time  immemorial  to 
the  grape,  reflecting  the  great  sickle-sweep 
of  its  shore  in  the  unmatched  mirror  of  the 
lake.  To  those  to  whom  it  has  been  given 
to  know  this  region  intimately,  the  cease- 
less changes  of  the  seasons  seem  somehow 
doubly  beautiful  there,  —  from  the  first 
awakening  of  the  green  on  the  lower  pas- 
tures, while  all  the  mountains  round  still 
glisten  with  the  snow,  to  the  final  fall  days, 
when  the  vineyards  on  the  banks  turn  sere 


96  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

of  leaf,  but  brilliant  with  purple  and  yellow 
grapes  that  proclaim  the  hour  of  vintage. 
The  pale  lavender  of  the  crocuses  in  the 
springtime,  the  violets  by  the  wayside,  and 
the  narcissus  cloying  the  upland  meadows 
with  its  sweetness,  —  do  they  not  seem  to 
belong  to  some  transplanted  Japan?  The 
very  gulls  that  scream  about  the  quays  and 
rocky  headlands  in  winter,  appear  whiter 
than  elsewhere,  against  the  marvellous  blue 
of  the  water. 

The  two  best  wine-producing  stretches 
on  this  shore  are  La  Cote  and  Vaux,  —  the 
former  near  Rolle,  and  the  latter  to  the  east 
of  Lausanne.  Ancient  ordinances  regulate 
the  time  and  manner  of  vintage  with  great 
precision.  Every  bunch  is  watched,  from 
the  flower  to  maturity,  in  that  truly  Swiss 
spirit  of  thrift,  which  is  almost  sordid  by 
reason  of  the  hard  struggle  for  existence. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  the  wine  itself  is 
a  trifle  sharp,  and  that  a  liking  for  it  must 
be  acquired.  Not  so  the  grapes,  however, 
which,  thanks  to  the  invention  of  the  grape- 
cure,  can  be  eaten  in  any  quantity  with  a 
quiet  conscience,  and  even  with  a  sense  of 
self-sacrifice. 


LAUSANNE.  9? 


I.  —  Lausanne. 

A  cable-road,  which  the  people  call 
facetiously  La  Ficelle,  or  "  the  string," 
mounts  from  Ouchy  to  Lausanne  proper. 
Still,  in  spite  of  many  modern  conven- 
iences, life  in  Lausanne  continues  to  be 
literally  uphill  work.  The  streets  are  irreg- 
ular and  steep,  full  of  unexpected  turns 
and  novel  surprises.  We  are  not  told 
why  the  Romans,  who  called  the  place 
Lausonium,  settled  here ;  probably  they  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  Celtic  predecessors. 
But  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  bishop  and  his 
canons  occupied  the  cathedral  hill ;  the 
nobles  fortified  themselves  upon  the  adjoin- 
ing eminence,  Du  Bourg;  and  the  traders, 
with  other  people  who  were  of  no  account 
in  the  feudal  system,  liad  to  find  room 
somehow  at  the  base.  And  so  it  came 
about  that  succeeding  generations  in  Lau- 
sanne have  had  to  trudge  and  climb  away 
the  better  part  of  their  lives. 

The  simple  Gothic  of  the  cathedral  is, 
upon  the  whole,  unsurpassed  in  Switzerland. 
The  present  structure  dates  from  the  thir- 
7 


98  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

teenth  century,  and  witnessed  the  famous 
reconciliation  between  Pope  Gregory  X, 
and  Rudolf  of  Habsburg.  In  1536,  one 
of  the  great  disputations  to  which  the 
Reformation  gave  rise,  took  place  here,  in 
which  Calvin,  Farcl,  and  \'iret  took  jjart. 
The  interior  has  now,  perhaps,  too  much  of 
the  scrubbed  and  cold  appearance  of  Prot- 
estant churches,  but  it  is  none  the  less 
nobly  impressive.  Its  glory  is  the  rose 
window  facing  the  cast,  thirty  feet  in  diame- 
ter, that  glows  towards  the  morning  sun 
with  the  gleam  of  many  thousand  jewels. 
The  Portal  of  the  Apostles,  on  the  west 
side,  is  a  monument  in  itself;  but  unfortu- 
nately, its  soft  sandstone  has  crumbled, 
until  the  whole  is  practically  in  ruins.  The 
south  portal  has  been  restored,  along  with 
many  other  parts  of  tlie  church,  from  plans 
by  Viollet-le-Duc.  A  tomb  of  Otto  of 
Grandson  and  a  tablet  dedicated  by  Laharpe 
to  the  patriot  martyr,  Major  Davel,  attract 
attention.  Williemin  says  that  one  of  the 
cathedral  bells,  having  succumbed  to  a  fire, 
was  recast,  and  therefore  now  bears  the 
following  inscription:  — 


LAUSANNE.  99 

"  Ma  forme  que  j'avois  par  la  flamme  perdue 
Ma  de  rechef  este  par  la  flamme  rendue."  * 

Vhe  same  writer  affirms  that,  not  ninety 
years  ago,  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
Lausanne  used  to  dance  under  the  chestnut- 
trees  of  the  cathedral  terrace,  singing  a  la 
ronde. 

Of  the  castle,  little  need  be  said.  It  is 
built  with  a  sandstone  foundation  and  an 
ugly  brick  superstructure,  crenellated  at  the 
top,  and  flanked  by  four  little  towers  on 
the  corners.  The  new  additions  that  are 
being  made,  threaten  to  destroy  even  these 
dubious  charms.  The  Cantonal  Museum 
contains  natural  history  collections  and  a 
library,  and  is  approached  through  a  yard 
ennobled  by  great  trees. 

There  is  more  to  see,  if  you  climb  down 
into  the  city  by  the  one  hundred  and  sixty 
steps  of  that  quaint,  wooden  Escalier  du 
Marche.  Twice  a  week  the  country  people 
organize  a  market  in  the  streets  of  Lau- 
sanne, that  trails  in  perplexing  curves  and 
steep  inclines,  through  the  narrow  streets 
from  the  post-office  up  to  the  Place  Riponne. 

*  Le  Cantcjn  de  \"au(l,  Lautaiinc.     1862. 


lOO  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Here  it  unexpectedly  develops  into  a  full- 
fledged  fair,  with  booths  for  almost  every 
kind  of  article,  from  cheese  to  cheap  prints. 
One  side  of  this  square  is  flanked  by  an 
open,  pillared  corn-hall;  the  other,  by  the 
unpretentious  .AIus(5e  Arlaud,  which  con- 
tains a  very  small,  and  by  no  means  remark- 
able, collection  of  pictures.  Here,  too,  will 
face  the  new  university  buildings,  when 
they  are  completed,  —  thanks  to  the  one 
million  and  a  half  of  francs,  left  by  a  grate- 
ful Russian,  Gabriel  de  Rumine.  In  1891, 
the  old  academy  blossomed  forth  as  a 
university,  and  received  the  good  wishes 
of  student  delegations  from  many  nations, 
assembled  to  celebrate  its  inauguration 
with  much  banqueting  and  amid  popular 
festivities. 

In  the  centre  of  the  town  stands  a  truly 
Swiss  Hotel  de  Ville.  Its  overhanging 
eaves  have  painted  figures  on  the  under 
side;  peaceful  pigeons  associate  on  the  best 
of  terms  with  two  terrific  gargoyles  that 
project  threateningly;  and  a  funny  little 
tower  points  from  the  roof.  On  the  west 
side,  the  new  Palais  de  Justice  F^d^ral,  the 
seat  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Switzerland, 


LAUSAXNE.  rol 

spreads  its  white  architecture  amid  the 
shady  avenues  of  Montbenon.  But  you 
will  see  all  this,  and  more  too,  if  you  climb 
to  the  Signal  above  Lausanne.  Thence, 
not  only  the  city  itself,  but  the  whole  length 
of  the  lake  is  revealed,  from  the  hazy, 
flat  lines  near  Geneva  to  the  jagged  moun- 
tains of  the  upper  end ;  while,  inland,  vast 
undulations  of  wood  and  meadow  stretch 
northward  in  endless  alternation. 

The  local  type  is  certainly  more  Swiss 
than  that  of  Geneva,  more  rustic.  The 
Vaudois  seem  to  have  absorbed  a  little  of 
the  acidity  of  their  wine,  to  temper  their 
many  sterling  qualities.  Mr.  Howells, 
whom  I  cannot  help  quoting  again,  during 
his  stay  at  Villeneuve  was  continually 
reminded  of  the  New  England  that  is  past, 
or  passing.  He  speaks  of  "  the  surliness 
of  the  men  and  the  industry  of  the  women." 
"  The  Vaudois,  as  I  saw  them,"  he  writes, 
"were  at  no  age  a  merry  folk.  In  the 
fields  they  toiled  silently ;  in  the  caf^s, 
where  they  were  sufficiently  noisy  over  their 
new  wine,  they  talked  without  laughter, 
and  without  the  shrugs  and  gestures  that 


102  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

enliven  conversation  amongst  other  Latin 
peoples."  He  noticed  the  "hard,  pure, 
plain  faces  "  of  the  women,  and  was  much 
impressed  with  their  voices,  "which  are  the 
sweetest  and  most  softly  modulated  voices 
in  the  world,  whether  they  come  from  the 
throat  of  peasant  or  of  lady,  and  can  make 
a  transaction  in  eggs  and  butter  in  the 
market-place  as  musical  as  chanted  verse."  * 
I  can  also  add  that  the  complexions  of  the 
young  girls  are  exceptionally  rosy,  and  their 
coming  and  going  is  almost  unfettered  by 
rules  of  false  conventionality. 

In  point  of  fact,  many  English  parents 
select  Lausanne  for  the  education  of  their 
children,  which  is  due  almost  as  much  to 
the  wholesome,  open-air  atmosphere  of  the 
place,  as  to  the  cheap  schools,  —  unless, 
indeed,  there  be  any  truth  in  the  insinuation, 
sometimes  uttered,  that  since  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  sons  were  in  Lausanne,  the  lin- 
gering aroma  of  royalty  proves  perfectly 
irresistible.  Certainly  the  merits  of  cheap- 
ness plus  royalty  must  be  very  fetching 
indeed. 

But  the  fashion  for  living  in   Lausanne 
*  A  Little  Swiss  Sojourn.     New  York.     p.  54. 


LAUSANNE.  I03 

was  set  long  ago  by  a  very  great  English- 
^nan,  —  Edward  Gibbon,  author  of  the 
"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 
His  first  visit  was  made  in  1753,  w^hen 
only  sixteen  years  old.  He  had  espoused 
Catholicism,  and  his  father  sent  him  to 
live  with  a  Protestant  pastor,  Pavillard  by 
name,  who  was  to  cure  him  of  this  prepos- 
terous idea.  The  worthy  tutor  was  quite 
successful.  Young  Gibbon  even  went  far- 
ther than  was  intended,  for  he  mixed  in 
the  circle  of  bright  spirits  whom  Voltaire 
had  gathered  about  himself.  The  French 
philosopher  freqeuntly  resided  at  Alon- 
triond,  and  used  to  go  so  far  as  to  say  of 
the  Lausannois,  '■  They  have  succeeded  in 
wedding  the  politeness  of  Athens  to  the 
simplicity  of  Lacedasmon."  In  this  society. 
Gibbon  also  met  Suzanne  Curchod,  —  "  the 
beautiful  Curchod,"  as  they  called  her  in 
Lausanne,  —  daughter  of  a  poor  country 
clergyman.  The  two  became  engaged; 
but  when,  after  a  five  years'  stay,  Gibbon 
returned  to  England,  he  broke  his  troth  on 
the  plea  of  his  father's  refusal.  Suzanne's 
passionate  protests  and  Gibbon's  cold- 
blooded   insistence    are    revealed    in    the 


104  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

printed  correspondence  that  passed  between 
the  lovers.  Rousseau  called  him  "a  man 
to  be  despised  "  for  this  shabby  conduct. 
Indications  are  not  wanting  also  tliat  the 
young  lady  had  an  eye  to  the  young  gentle- 
man's wealth  and  social  position.  When 
Gibbon  next  met  his  old  flame,  slie  was  the 
wife  of  Necker,  the  great  financier  of  Louis 
XVI.  of  France,  and  mother  of  a  girl  who 
was  to  be  famous  as  Madame  de  Stael. 
Perhaps,  therefore,  it  was  just  as  well  that 
the  Gibbon  marriage  did  not  come  off;  we 
might  never  have  had  our  great  authoress. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that 
tlie  historian  was  singularly  susceptible 
to  feminine  charms,  although  he  never 
married.  We  have  that  delightful  anec- 
dote, now  of  course  declared  spurious,  about 
his  falling  on  his  knees  before  Madame  de 
Montolieu,  a  captivating  widow  who  wrote 
a  great  many  wishy-washy  romances  in  her 
day.  As  he  was  at  that  time  enormously 
fat,  he  could  not  rise  again,  in  spite  of  her 
protests;  and  so  she  was  obliged  to  ring  for 
tiie  servant  to  "lift  up  the  gentleman."' 

On    the    whole,    Gibbon    exerted    little 
influence    upon    Lausanne.      He    made    a 


VEVEY.  105 

second  visit  of  a  year  in  1763,  and  finally 
a  third  from  1783  to  1793,  but  was  remem- 
bered rather  as  a  selfish  savant,  much 
eulogized,  but  not  much  liked.  M.  Rosscl 
says :  "  He  passed  like  a  large  meteor 
whose  light  is  admired,  but  not  utilized."  * 


II.  —  Vevey. 

Smaller  than  Lausanne,  not  perched 
upon  a  hill  in  the  track  of  wind  and  sun, 
but  edging  down  to  the  water-side  upon  a 
rounded  promontory,  Vevey  impresses  one 
as  having  a  sweet  and  sensitive  personality, 
like  the  modest  maid  of  our  grandmother's 
time.  Lausanne  seems  more  like  the 
modern  girl,  displaying  her  accomplish- 
ments at  once  for  the  asking.  Rousseau 
says  in  his  "  Confessions " :  "I  went  to 
Vevey  and  lodged  at  the  '  Clef,'  and 
during  the  two  days  which  I  passed  there 
without  seeing  any  company,  I  took  such  a 
strong  liking  for  the  town,  that  its  remem- 
brance   has    accompanied    me   in    all   my 

*  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  Suisse  Romande,  vol 
ii.,  p.  85. 


Io6  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

travels,  and  caused  me  to  fix  upon  it  as  the 
residence  of  the  hero  of  my  romance."  In 
fact,  the  various  scenes  of  the  "  Nouvelle 
Heloise  "  were  all  laid  in  this  neighborhood. 
The  "Clef"  still  stands;  it  is  the  house  next 
to  the  Doric  corn-hall  in  the  market-place 
on  the  north.  At  No.  i,  Rue  de  Lausanne, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then  First  Consul, 
lodged  on  his  journey  to  the  Great  St. 
Bernard,  to  gain  his  victory  at  Marengo. 

The  market-place  is  particularly  interest- 
ing when  the  Savoyard  boatmen  cross  the 
lake  in  their  lateen  barges,  laden  with 
fagots  and  sacks  of  chestnuts,  and  the 
Vaudois  peasantry  bring  their  garden  pro- 
duce and  cattle  fodder  for  sale.  The 
meeting  of  these  two  elements  causes 
considerable  picturesque  animation.  But 
better  still  is  the  spectacle  in  April,  when 
the  annual  distribution  of  prizes  to  the 
school  children  takes  place,  the  Fete  des 
Promotions.  On  this  occasion  the  cadets 
of  the  college  indulge  in  a  sham  battle  that 
is  simply  terrific,  —  and  always  ends  in  the 
same  way.  A  last  desperate  stand  is 
invariably  made  on  the  steps  of  the  corn- 
hall  by  serried  ranks  of  miniature  soldiery. 


VEVEY.  107 

A  line  of  grim  sharpshooters  kneel  in  front, 
ready  to  shed  their  proverbial  last  drop  of 
blood  in  the  defence  of  the  local  forum. 
But  the  advancing  field-guns  of  the  artillery 
boom  furiously,  and  make  even  this  position 
untenable.  There  is  an  heroic  struggle  on 
the  steps ;  a  final  bloody  episode  takes  place 
under  the  vaulted  roof,  which  re-echoes  with 
some  last  stray  shots  ;  and  then  everybody 
goes  off,  in  the  best  of  spirits,  to  the  colla- 
tion, prepared  for  the  survivors. 

Most  wonderful  of  all,  however,  is  the  as- 
pect of  the  market-place,  when  that  unique 
festival,  the  Fete  des  Vi^^nerons,  recurs  after 
its  long  intermission.  There  is  not  any- 
where in  Europe  a  popular  performance  at 
once  more  splendid  and  yet  so  naive.  It  is 
tlie  celebration  of  the  vintage  in  song  and 
dance,  the  supreme  symbolic  expression  of 
this  vinevard  land  of  Vaud.  Pitched  in  the 
key  of  rustic  gayety,  and  acted  on  the  plane 
of  animal  spirits,  it  yet  deserves  to  rank 
with  the  Passion  Play  at  Oberammergau, 
for  the  genuine,  spontaneous,  and  truth- 
ful manner  of  its  production.  The  Fete 
des  Vignerons  is  the  artistic  apotheosis  of 
the  grape. 


loS  ROMANXE   SWITZERLAND. 

The  origin  of  this  festival  cannot  be 
estabhshed  with  any  certainty.  It  has 
sometimes  been  ascribed  to  the  monks  of 
Haut  Cret,  who  are  said  to  have  called  the 
people  together  for  general  rejoicing,  after 
they  had  successfully  planted  vines  upon 
the  slopes  of  Vaux.  Other  writers  profess 
to  trace  it  back  to  Roman  times,  when  the 
vine  was  first  introduced.  A  fraternity,  or 
guild,  of  vine-dressers,  the  Abbaye  des 
Vignerons,  has  been  in  existence  for  many 
centuries.  Unfortunately  its  archives  were 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1688.  The  festival  is 
supposed  to  be  given  every  fifteen  years ; 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  intervals  have 
been  much  longer  than  that.  The  last 
performance  was  in  1889;  the  one  before 
that  in  1865  ;  and  there  was  one  farther 
back  in  1833,  when  Fenimore  Cooper  was 
present,  and  gave  a  description  of  it  in  his 
novel,  "  The  Headsman." 

Special  music  and  special  dances  are 
composed  by  Swiss  artists  for  each  festi- 
val; a  ballet-master  spends  six  months  in 
Vevey,  training  the  performers  ;  and  what 
is  simply  astounding,  the  thirteen  hundred 
to    fifteen    hundred    participants    are    all 


VEVEY.  109 

recruited  from  the  neighborhood.  Only 
local  talent  is  enlisted ;  but  old  and  young 
alike  are  needed,  so  that  the  result  is 
essentially  patriarchal  and  pastoral.  It  is 
a  monster  family  festival,  produced  with  all 
the  accessories  of  art. 

The  fete  of  1SS9  lasted  from  the  5th  to 
the  loth  of  August.  Its  success  was 
overwhelming,  both  as  a  splendid  spectacle 
and  as  a  patriotic  celebration.  Music, 
dancing,  poetry,  painting,  and  architecture 
had  all  been  pressed  into  service.  The 
enormous  amphitheatre  was  filled  with  a 
crowd  of  between  twelve  thousand  and 
fifteen  thousand  spectators  on  the  various 
days. 

Let  us  take  our  seats  with  them.  The 
booming  of  cannon  announces  that  the 
mighty  procession  has  started  across  the 
old-fashioned  streets  of  \'evey.  The  first  to 
enter  the  theatre  portal  is  a  troop  of  ancient 
Swiss,  marked  with  scarlet  and  white 
crosses,  carrying  halberds.  Then  follow 
the  Abbaye  des  Vignerons,  with  the  abb^ 
at  their  head,  who  holds  a  crosier,  after 
them  the  local  councillors,  and  then  vine- 
dressers  in   green   tunics,  white    breeches, 


no  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

and  straw  hats.  But  this  display  is  merely 
a  foretaste.  From  the  three  portals,  three 
great  allegorical  groups  pour  simultane- 
ously into  the  arena, —  Pales,  with  her 
troop  in  springtime  shades,  her  gardeners, 
haymakers,  shepherds,  and  armailiis  with 
a  herd  of  cows  ;  Ceres,  in  brilliant  harvest 
colors,  accompanied  by  sowers,  threshers, 
and  winnowers  ;  and  finally  Bacchus,  sur- 
rounded by  vine-dressers,  satyrs,  fauns, 
and  bacchantes.  The  performances  of 
these  costumed  actors  create  a  bewilder- 
ing succession  of  pictures.  The  domestic 
comedy  of  a  country  wedding  is  acted  by 
a  real  young  couple,  married  only  a  few 
weeks  ago.  The  harvesters,  sowers,  vine- 
dressers, etc.,  dance  in  imitation  of  their 
several  occupations.  An  arjnailli  sings 
the  Ranz  des  Vaches.  There  is  a  marvel- 
lous scintillation  of  rustic  tools.  The  air 
throbs  with  exuberance.  And  when,  at  the 
close,  the  united  jDarticipants  intone  their 

"  Heureux  enfants  d'une  heureuse  enfance," 

people  rise  in  their  seats  unable  to  contain 
themselves,  or  burst  into  tears,  unnerv^ed 
and  exhausted  by  their  very  joy. 


The  essential  charm  of  these  perform- 
ances does  not  lie  so  much  in  perfect 
execution,  as  in  the  spirit  which  pervades 
them.  The  actors  are  not  performing 
professional  roles  for  pay;  they  are  repre- 
senting their  actual  occupations  in  an 
idealized  form.  They  are  real  haymakers, 
vine-dressers,  and  herders,  expressing  the 
indwelling,  artistic  essence  of  their  daily 
occupations.  They  are  celebrating  the 
triumph  of  out-door  labor.  It  would  be  as 
difficult  to  impart  this  natural,  rustic  quality 
to  the  typical  chorus  girls  of  our  tinsel 
stage,  as  to  shift  the  Savoy  Alps  themselves 
for  scenery  in  an  opera-house. 

But  Vevey  is  interesting,  even  when  the 
Fele  des  Vignerons  is  not  on.  By  all  means, 
walk  up  the  hill  to  old  St.  Martin.  Besides 
its  shady  avenues  and  glorious  outlook,  the 
church  can  boast  of  harboring  the  tombs 
of  two  English  regicides,  Ludlow  and 
Broughton.  The  former  was  one  of  the 
judges  who  condemned  Charles  I.,  and  the 
latter  read  the  sentence  to  him.  These  men 
were  not  safe  from  Charles  II. 's  vengeance 
even  in  Vevey;  for   at  their  house,  which 


112  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Hotel  du 
Lac,  they  were  allowed  to  keep  a  special 
alarm-bell  to  ring  in  case  of  need.  We 
are  not  told  that  the  alarm  was  ever  given  ; 
but  certain  it  is,  that  Ludlow  was  once  fired 
upon,  as  he  was  leaving  St.  Martin,  and  that 
the  would-be  assassin  escaped  across  to 
Savoy.  The  American  descendants  of 
John  Phelps,  clerk  of  the  court  which  tried 
Charles  Stuart,  not  long  since  also  placed 
a  tablet  in  memory  of  their  ancestor  in 
St.  .Alartin. 

\'evey  has  had  quite  a  checkered  career 
for  so  respectable  a  place.  As  far  as  we 
know,  it  began  life  as  a  Celtic  station,  then 
became  a  Roman  colony,  formed  part  of 
Transjurane  Burgundy,  succumbed  to  a 
variety  of  ecclesiastical  and  secular  rulers, 
was  sacked  and  burned  by  the  mountain- 
eers of  the  Simmenthal,  nearly  depopulated 
by  the  plague,  and  lield  in  subjection  by 
Bern,  until  the  Helvetic  Revolution  allowed 
it  to  take  its  proper  place  as  the  second 
town  in  Canton  Vaud.  Rousseau's  eulo- 
gies did  much  to  popularize  the  place  as  a 
traveller's  resort.  The  Hotel  Monnet,  or 
Des  Trois  Couronnes,  practically  served  as 


VEVEY.  113 

model  for  succeeding  generations  of  Swiss 
hotels.  Many  people  of  title  settled  here 
or  in  the  neighborhood.  Don  Carlos  and 
his  family  maintained  a  sort  of  small  court 
for  three  or  four  years. 

The  wine  trade  of  Vevey  is  quite  impor- 
tant, but  the  manufacture  of  a  peculiar 
kind  of  cigar  has  given  it  a  European 
reputation.  This  brand  is  made  of  home- 
grown tobacco,  coarse,  but  pure,  and  very 
cheap.  With  practice,  one  can  learn  to 
like  even  the  cigars  that  cost  half  a  cent 
apiece.  The  taste  is  acquired,  perhaps, 
but  not  necessarily  depraved,  because  it  is 
satisfied  at  a  small  cost.  There  seems  to 
be  every  likelihood,  however,  that  another 
commercial  product  will  soon  outrival  even 
wine  and  cigars.  That  wonderful  prepara- 
tion, described  upon  advertisements  as 
"  Nestle's  Condensed  Milk  "  has  conquered 
for  itself  a  recognized  position  in  the  nurs- 
eries of  the  world.  Some  mothers  may  still 
be  very  much  set  about  the  respective 
merits  of  other  baby  foods :  but  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  photographs  of  babies  fed  on 
Nestle's  preparation,  create  a  very  favor- 
able impression  indeed.  It  is  evident  that 
8 


114  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Vevey  appreciates  the  enormous  influence 
of  the  modern  woman,  and  seeks  to  in- 
gratiate itself,  through  her,  into  the  good 
opinion  of  the  rising  generation. 

And,  really,  Vevey  needs  friends,  for  it 
has  been  quite  overshadowed,  as  a  stran- 
ger's resort,  by  that  fashionable  upstart 
farther  up  the  lake,  Montreux.  Indeed, 
one  need  never  feel  any  sympathy  for  that 
ideally  situated  place-  it  is  too  terribly 
prosperous.  You  may  continue  to  go  to 
Montreux ;  but  your  best  wishes  will  inva- 
riably stay  with  old-fashioned  Vevey,  that 
makes  less  pretences,  and  has,  at  all  events, 
an  historic  background. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

OFF   THE   TOURIST   TRACK. 

BACK  of  the  vineyard  slopes  of  Lake 
Leman,  the  Pays  de  Vaud  is  like  a 
rustic  garden,  where  little  old-fashioned 
towns  grow  upon  the  hilltops.  It  is  an 
upland,  undulating  plateau,  mainly  agricul- 
tural, swept  by  the  bise,  where  grapes  do 
not  thrive ;  but  there  are  stretches  of  fair 
meadow-land,  ploughed  fields,  and  orchards, 
with  farms  freely  sprinkled  about.  Above 
all,  it  is  a  land  fairly  bristling  with  castel- 
lated towns,  like  the  landscapes  of  mediaeval 
painters,  perched  as  in  Tuscany,  gleaming 
with  whitewash,  and  still,  for  the  most  part, 
provided  with  the  accoutrements  of  feudal- 
ism,—  walls,  towers,  and  gates. 

And  yet,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  history 
of  this  ancient  Pays  de  Vaud  is  at  all 
inspiring,  or  particularly  creditable  to  the 
successive  generations  which  have  inhab- 
ited it.     For,  in  truth,  the  people  seem  to 


Il6  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

have  been  fated,  until  comparatively  recent 
times,  to  remain  in  subjection  to  petty  local 
rulers  or  foreign  conquerors.  It  is  remark- 
able that  the  present  appearance  of  the 
country  should  still  reflect  an  ancient  servi- 
tude which  has  long  since  been  abolished. 

Every  castle  tower  points  the  finger  to 
some  bygone  act  of  political  humiliation; 
every  wall  and  gate  recalls  the  former 
necessity  for  self-defence  against  petty, 
preying  lordlings.  From  the  time  when 
the  Helvetii  were  conquered  by  Julius 
Caesar,  and  sent  back  into  this  region  to 
rebuild  the  twelve  cities  they  had  burned 
behind  them,  to  the  conquest  of  the  whole 
country  by  the  Bernese,  the  Pays  de  Vaud 
never  knew  the  privileges  of  self-govern- 
ment. While  their  Germanic  neighbors 
in  the  Forest  States  were  victoriously  re- 
pelling the  encroachments  of  Habsburg- 
Austria,  the  Vaudois  lay  in  apathetic  sub- 
mission. The  ill-fated  revolt  led  by  Major 
Davel,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  seems 
to  have  been  their  only  serious  effort.  They 
did  not  know  a  period  of  freedom,  until  the 
French  Revolutionists  enfranchised  them 
from  Bern. 


SOME   HILL   TOWNS.  I  I  7 


I.  —  Some  Hill  Towns. 

The  march  of  modern  travel  has  left 
these  hill  towns  on  one  side,  so  that  the 
guide-books  barely  mention  them.  And 
yet  their  fantastic  picturesqueness  might 
make  the  fortune  of  some  clever  etcher,  so 
original  and  old-world  are  their  lines.  As 
for  the  student  of  history,  he  will  recognize 
in  them  some  of  the  most  perfect,  if  un- 
pretentious, survivals  of  medievalism  to  be 
found  anywhere. 

Taking  Lausanne  as  a  starting-point,  you 
can  run  up  to  Yverdon,  and  pass  several  of 
them  on  the  way,  —  Cossonay,  La  Sarraz, 
and  Orbe,  —  dehghtful  little  places,  full  of 
feudal  flavor.  Perhaps  a  trip  from  Lau- 
sanne through  the  valley  of  the  Broye  will 
be,  on  the  whole,  the  most  paying,  and  at 
the  same  time  throw  more  sidelights  upon 
Swiss  history. 

The  train  for  Morat  climbs  the  steep 
lake-front  in  curves  and  over  viaducts,  with 
the  usual  Swiss  slowness  tenfold  exagger- 
ated by  the  upliill  grade.  At  the  top,  there 
is  just  time  to  cast  a  backward  look  over 


Il8  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  ever  memorable  magnificence  of  the 
lake,  the  pale  green  of  the  vineyards,  and 
the  violet  richness  of  the  Savoy  mountains. 
Then  the  train  plunges  into  a  tunnel,  and 
emerges  on  the  other  side  in  what  seems 
another  world.  The  colors  there  are  som- 
bre by  contrast, —  crudely  green,  as  though 
lacking  the  haze  that  gives  atmosphere  to 
Lake  Leman.  For  this  reason,  it  is  perhaps 
preferable  to  travel  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion, so  as  to  pass  from  the  subdued  tones 
of  the  uplands  to  the  brilliancy  of  the  lake 
scenery. 

At  Palezieux  our  train  leaves  the  main 
track,  that  leads  to  Romont,  Fribourg,  and 
Bern,  and  follows  the  delightful  valley  of 
the  Broye.  This  was  the  route  of  the 
Romans;  and  the  little  castled  towns,  so 
characteristic  of  this  region,  immediately 
appear  to  right  and  left,  —  Oron  ;  Ecublens ; 
Rue,  one  of  the  sweetest  of  them  all; 
Moudon,  with  a  massive,  square  building; 
and  Lucens,  leaning  against  its  fort-crowned 
hill.  The  constantly  recurring  ending  in 
ens  is  doubtless  an  abbreviation  for  the 
common  Latin  ensis.  Farther  along,  an 
old    chateau,    perched    above    precipitous 


SOME    HILL   TOWNS.  1 19 

cliffs,  is  happily  called  Surpierre;  and 
then  the  towers  of  Payerne  rise  from  the 
broadening  plain. 

To  tell  the  truth,  Payerne  is  the  least 
remarkable  in  appearance  of  all  the  towns 
in  the  valley  of  the  Broye,  as  it  is  also  the 
most  modern  and  thriving  among  them. 
Indeed,  it  has  actually  quite  a  vulgar  com- 
mercial reputation  for  pork  sausages.  But, 
in  spite  of  this  unfortunate  drawback,  the 
place  is  historically  interesting,  on  account 
of  its  reminiscences  of  Bertha,  Queen  of 
Transjurane  Burgundy. 

A  certain  Margrave,  Rudolf,  had  utilized 
the  confusion  which  followed  the  Treaty  of 
\'erdun.  to  have  himself  crowned  King  of 
Transjurane  Burgundy,  in  888.  His  son, 
Rudolf  II.,  attempted  to  enlarge  the  new 
kingdom  in  the  direction  of  Alamannia, 
was  defeated  by  Burkhard  I.,  the  duke  of 
that  country,  and  eventually  reconciled  to 
him  in  the  most  charming  manner  by  mar- 
rying his  daughter  Bertha.  During  the 
absences  of  her  husband  upon  warlike  ex- 
peditions, and  later,  throughout  the  minor- 
ity of  her  son  Conrad,  the  good  queen 
showed     extraordinary    executive    ability. 


120  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

She  was  a  sort  of  German  Hausfrau  on  a 
royal  scale,  retaining,  in  her  Romance  en- 
vironment, the  small  economies  and  house- 
keeping thrift  of  her  Teutonic  training. 
Tradition  represents  her  as  riding  from 
farm  to  farm,  from  manor  to  manor,  upon 
a  white  palfrey,  spinning  the  while  from 
her  distaff,  which  fitted  into  a  hole  in  the 
saddle.  To  this  day,  the  people  of  Vaud 
speak  of  "le  temps  ou  Berlhe  filait "  as 
equivalent  to  "good  old  times."  She  built 
roads,  encouraged  agriculture  and  the  plant- 
ing of  vines,  succored  the  sick,  and  reproved 
the  lazy.  When  the  country  was  invaded 
by  hordes  of  Magyars  and  Saracens,  she 
organized  the  defence  by  erecting  towers 
of  refuge  on  commanding  points. 

Her  personality  impressed  itself  so 
strongly  upon  the  memory  of  her  contem- 
poraries, that  succeeding  generations,  as 
usual,  considered  it  necessary  to  translate 
her  into  legendary  lore.  Several  Swiss 
artists  have  tried  their  hands  at  picturing 
her,  and  many  poems  have  celebrated  her 
virtues. 

In  961,  Bertha  founded  a  Benedictine 
abbey  at  Payerne,  endowing  it  richly  with 


SOME    HILL    TOWNS.  121 

revenues  and  serfs.  The  church  is  now  a 
granary,  and  the  monastery  a  school ;  but 
that  does  not  prevent  these  buildings  from 
being  very  much  admired  by  art  lovers. 
The  pious  queen  and  her  beautiful  daugh- 
ter, Adelaide,  who  became  the  wife  of  Otto, 
the  Great,  of  Germany,  took  a  deep  interest 
in  this  foundation.  The  deed  of  endow- 
ment is  still  extant  in  two  copies.  An 
elaborate  curse  is  appended,  quite  in  the 
spirit  of  the  times  :  "  If  any  power  be  so 
bold  as  to  invade  the  possessions  of  the 
servants  of  God,"  Bertha  devoutly  hopes, 
"they  will  be  declared  deprived  of  eternal 
life."  The  school-children  who  pour  daily 
through  the  ancient  portal  show  no  signs  of 
suffering  from  this  curse.  In  1817,  her  re- 
mains and  those  of  her  husband,  Rudolf,  as 
well  as  of  her  son  Conrad,  were  discovered 
under  the  floor  of  the  abbey  church.  At 
least,  the  authorities  of  Canton  Vaud  iden- 
tified the  skeletons  found  there  as  belong- 
ing to  these  personages.  They  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  parish  church,  where  their 
tombs  are  marked  with  a  long  inscription. 
On  her  seals  she  is  styled,  Bcrta  Dei 
Gracia   Hn^iilis   Regina    (Bertha,   by   the 


122  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

grace  of  God  the  humble  queen).  Travel- 
lers are  still  shown  at  Payerne  lier  identical 
famous  saddle,  with  the  hole  for  a  distaff; 
but  heartless  archeeologists  now  affirm  that 
this  curious  object  is  in  reality  a  mediaeval 
instrument  of  torture,  by  which  prisoners 
could  be  fastened  on  horseback. 

Of  quite  another  stamp  is  the  one  other 
noted  character  which  Payerne  suggests,— 
Henri  Jomini.  He  was  born  there,  in  1779, 
but  his  military  career  was  passed  entirely 
in  foreign  countries.  As  a  soldier  of 
fortune  of  a  superior  kind,  peculiar  to  his 
time,  and  now  no  longer  possible,  he  distin- 
guished himself  throughout  the  wars  which 
convulsed  Europe  after  the  French  Revo- 
lution, both  as  a  leader  and  military  writer. 
Aide-de-camp  to  Marshal  Ney,  and  attached 
for  years  to  the  person  of  Napoleon,  Jomini 
had  ample  opportunity  of  studying  strategy. 
His  principal  works  were  a  "  Traitd  des 
Grandes  Operations"  and  his  "  Histoire 
des  Guerres  de  la  Revolution."  But  he 
had  an  enemy,  Berthier,  who  intrigued  con- 
tinually against  his  advancement ;  and  so 
Jomini,  one  fine  day,  in  disgust,  went  over 
to  the  Russians,  and  accepted  a  high  posi- 


A   FORGOTTEN    CAPITAL.  1 23 

tion  in  that  army.  Napoleon  himself, 
however,  at  St.  Helena,  acknowledged  that 
Jomini  had  not  betrayed  any  secrets  to 
his  new  friends.  Jomini  followed  the  cam- 
paigns of  the  Allies  to  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  lived  to  see  the  Crimean  War,  and 
died  in  1869,  just  before  the  outbreak  of 
the  Franco-German  War.  His  works  are 
even  now  by  no  means  antiquated,  and  he 
insisted  upon  one  very  modern  idea  at 
least  in  his  writings.  He  was  a  strong  par- 
tisan of  a  P'ranco-Russian  alliance,  as  the 
only  means  of  maintaining  the  European 
equilibrium,  and  counteracting  the  maritime 
power  of  England.  Indeed,  he  practically 
demonstrated  this  theory  of  an  alliance  in 
his  own  family ;  for  two  of  his  daughters 
were  married  in  France,  another  in  Russia, 
and  two  sons  even  became  Russian  sub- 
jects, yet  their  family  relations  are  said  to 
have  remained  most  affectionate. 

II.  —  A  Forgotten  Capital. 

One  can  never  escape  altogether  from 
the  circle  of  Roman  remains  in  Europe. 
They  turn  up  in  the  most  unlikely  places. 


124  RO.MAXCE    SWITZERLAND. 

In  Romance  Switzerland,  they  abound;  but 
still  one  is  curiously  impressed  to  find  in 
the  little  insignificant  town  of  Avenches. 
farther  along  this  valley  of  the  Broye,  the 
forgotten  capital  of  a  Roman  province,  — 
the  ancient  Aventicum  of  the  Latin  charts. 
Even  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  the  various  Celtic  tribes,  inhabiting 
what  is  now  Swiss  soil,  had  fallen  a  prey 
to  the  conquerors  of  the  world,  —  the  Hel- 
vetii  in  B.C.  58,  the  clans  of  the  Valais  in 
the  next  year,  and  the  Raeti  of  the  eastern 
Alps  in  B.C.  15.  These  acquisitions  were 
promptly  organized  into  provinces,  and 
the  unfailing  Roman  roads  built  to  secure 
military  and  commercial  communication. 
One  of  the  principal  routes  from  Italy  to 
Germany  led  from  Aosta  over  the  Great 
St.  Bernard  to  Martigny,  by  \'evey  and 
Avenches  (Aventicum),  to  the  defences  on 
the  Rhine.  Aventicum  was  made  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Helveto-Roman  province,  and  the 
centre  of  a  network  of  minor  roads.  Under 
Vespasian  and  Titus,  it  attained  the  pro- 
portions of  a  veritable  metropolis,  with 
some  fifty  thousand  inhabitants,  and  flour- 
ished   during    the    reig:ns     of    succeeding 


A   FORGOTTEN    CAPITAL.  1 25 

emperors,  until  it  was  destroyed  by  the 
sweeping  stream  of  the  invading  Alamanni. 

Modern  Avenches  is  one  of  the  most 
charming  of  hill  towns.  Compact  within 
its  walls,  it  crowns  an  oblong  eminence, 
the  site  of  a  Roman  castellum.  A  mediae- 
val castle  stands  at  one  end,  with  peaked 
towers,  pretty  ornate  windows,  and  blinds 
curiously  painted  in  stripes,  after  the  fash- 
ion of  so  many  Swiss  chateaux.  The 
surrounding  plain  is  thickly  planted  with 
tobacco.  One  hardly  knows  whether  to 
be  more  surprised  at  the  endless  strings  of 
tobacco-leaves,  dr3'ing  in  the  sun  under 
the  eaves  of  old-fashioned  houses  and  in 
buildings  especially  adapted  for  the  pur- 
pose, or  at  the  pe7isio7inat  for  girls,  that  is 
patronized  by  English  and  foreign  families  : 
these  two  local  products  are  so  ill-assorted, 
and  seem  so  out  of  place  in  their  archaeo- 
logical environment. 

Ancient  Aventicum  lay  mostly  in  the 
plain  to  the  east  of  the  present  town.  At 
the  station  itself,  a  part  of  the  old  wall  is 
visible,  which  can  be  traced  for  almost  its 
whole  circumference  of  four  miles.  It  used 
to  be  studded  with  eighty  or  ninety  towers; 


126  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

only  one  now  remains.  From  the  field  of 
grass  which  was  once  the  forum,  rises  a  co- 
lumnar structure,  known  as  the  "  Cigognier," 
because  it  used  to  be  a  favorite  place  for 
storks  (French,  cigogac)  to  build  their 
nest  upon.  Dumas  saw  a  nest  of  storks 
upon  it  in  1.S33,  and  affirms  that  there  was 
a  fine  of  seventy  francs  for  any  one  wlio 
should  kill  one  of  the  birds.  In  spite  of 
this  protection  of  the  law,  the  "Cigognier" 
lias  now  for  man}-  years  been  tenantless. 

In  Roman  times,  Aventicum  was  con- 
nected with  Lake  IMorat  by  a  canal,  and 
there  was  continuous  water  transport  over 
the  lakes  of  Neuchatel  and  Bienne.  An 
ancient  theatre  is  now  being  carefully 
excavated.  The  outlines  of  an  amphi- 
theatre, capable  of  seating  between  eight 
thousand  and  ten  thousand  people,  are 
seen  on  the  hillside  near  the  entrance  to 
Avenches.  In  the  low  ground,  towards  the 
solitary  v.-all-tower,  innumerable  articles 
of  Roman  origin  have  been  discovered, 
notably  some  superb  mosaic  floors. 

Lmder  the  auspices  of  a  society  Pro 
Ai'cutico.  tlic  most  noteworthy  objects 
have  been  set  up  in  a  little  local    museum. 


A   FORGOTTEN    CAPITAL.  127 

But  every  now  and  then,  an  inscription  can 
be  seen  imbedded  in  the  building  material 
of  some  house.  The  effect  is  doubly 
impressive,  because  the  spirit  of  Avenches 
is  so  rustic  and  provincial.  Indeed,  nothing 
could  be  more  remarkable  than  this  little 
country  town,  dwindled  down  to  less  than 
two  thousand  inhabitants,  but  surrounded 
by  evidences  of  a  splendid  past.  Unknown, 
except  to  a  few  archaeologists,  and  yet 
intensely  suggestive  to  visitois,  Avenches 
sits  upon  her  hill,  forgotten  and  forlorn, 
but  ever  beautiful,  waiting,  perhaps,  for 
some  new  impulse  of  prosperity  that  may 
restore  her  prestige.  There  is  an  infinite 
pathos  in  this  decayed  metropolis  of  the 
Helveto-Romans,  which  even  the  smiling 
meadows  in  the  plain,  the  whispering 
wheat,  and  the  dark  green  tobacco-rows 
cannot  make  one  forget. 

The  train  does  not  take  long  to  run  from 
Avenches  to  Morat,  and  yet  what  a  span 
of  centuries  lies  between  the  two  places  ! 
A  whole  change  of  civilization  is  expressed 
by  the  transition.  The  latter  is  famous  in 
the  world's  history  for  the  second  great 
victory     which     the     Swiss     Confederates 


128  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

gained  over  Charles,  the  Bold,  of  Burgundy, 
the  first  being  at  Grandson,  on  the  lake 
of  Neuchatel.  The  sites  of  these  two 
victories  are  not  far  apart,  as  distances  go ; 
it  might  be  well,  therefore,  to  consider 
them  together. 

III.  —  Two   BURGUNDIAN   BATTLEFIELDS. 

When  the  Swiss  Confederates  were  urged 
into  war  with  Charles,  the  Bold,  by  the 
combined  intrigues  of  Louis  XI.  of  France 
and  Duke  Sigmund  of  Austria,  their  op- 
ponent was  considered  the  richest  prince 
in  Europe.  It  was  liis  special  ambition  to 
found  a  great  middle  kingdom  between 
France  and  Germany.  After  advancing  so 
far  towards  the  accomplishment  of  his 
plans,  that  he  actually  reigned  from  the 
Zuyder  Zee  to  the  lake  of  Neuchatel,  he 
met  an  obstacle  in  the  military  prowess  of 
the  Swiss  which  not  only  shattered  all  his 
hopes,  but  eventually  left  him  dead  upon 
the  batdefield. 

In  order  to  approach  these  two  Ijattle- 
fields  in  their  proper  liislorical  sequence,. 
Grandson    must    be    taken    bjfore    Morat 


TWO   BURGUXDIAX    BATTLEFIELDS.     1 29 

Imagine  yourself,  therefore,  transported  to 
that  place  at  the  lower  end  of  Lake  Neu- 
chatel. 

Grandson,  it  is  true,  like  Vevey,  de- 
rives its  modern  reputation  chiefly  from  a 
native  brand  of  cigars ;  but  one  must  not 
be  disconcerted  by  this  apparent  incon- 
gruity, and  rather  turn  resolutely  to  the 
past.  An  old  Romanesque  church,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  an  abbey,  is  said 
to  be  very  interesting  to  art  lovers ; 
and  certainly  the  fine  castle,  restored 
and  inhabited  by  a  Baron  de  Blonay,  is 
impressive  even  without  its  historical 
associations.  The  railroad  passes  directly 
under  the  cliff  upon  which  the  castle  is 
perched,  —  in  fact,  cutting  off  an  outlying 
bit  of  fortification  from  the  main  wall.  A 
court,  resembling  that  of  Gruy&res,  fairly 
exhales  the  knightly  age;  while  the  gallery 
that  runs  around  the  top  of  its  walls,  is 
very  suggestive  of  the  famous  siege. 

The  most  noted  occupant  of  this  castle 
was  Knight  Otto,  of  Grandson,  who  has 
the  distinction  of  having  been  the  first  poet 
of  French  Switzerland.  He  was  born  in 
1330,  served  under  Edward  III.  of  Eng- 
9 


130  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAXD. 

land  in  the  French  wars,  and  died  in  a 
judicial  duel  fought  with  his  jealous  neigh- 
bor across  the  lake,  Gerard  of  Estavayer. 
The  latter  had  made  some  accusations 
against  him,  which  are  not  clearly  under- 
stood to  this  day ;  and  Knight  Otto,  although 
he  must  have  been  about  seventy  years  old, 
considered  himself  bound  to  satisfy  honor. 
He  was  pierced  at  the  first  encounter,  and 
that  is  why,  on  his  tomb  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Lausanne,  his  hands  are  represented  as 
resting  on  a  cushion,  in  token  that  he  died 
under  the  ban.  His  verses  consisted  of 
the  pastorals,  rondels,  and  love  plaints, 
affected  by  the  Troubadours  of  his  day,  — 
sweet  and  melancholy  notes  of  entreaty  or 
protest  to  his  i?-t's  douce  danwiselle.  I3ut 
tliey  must  have  possessed  unusual  merit,  or 
Chaucer  would  not  have  translated  Otto"s 
••  Complaint  of  Mars  and  \'enus,"'  and 
called  him  ••  the  flower  of  French  poets." 
It  is  also  pleasant  to  know  that  although 
Otto  acknowledged  that  his  fair  friend 
proved  unfaithful  to  him,  he  continued  to 
I)e  a  recognized  champion  of  women  in  the 
poetic  tournaments,  where  their  virtues  and 
frailties  were  frankly  discussed. 


TWO    BURGUXDIAX    BATTLEFIELDS.      I3I 

But  now  to  describe  the  siege  and 
battle. 

Charles,  the  Bold,  marched  upon  Bern, 
by  way  of  Neuchatel,  in  February  of  1476. 
A  garrison  of  some  five  hundred  Swiss, 
hastily  gathered  and  badly  provisioned,  held 
Grandson,  to  block  his  way.  Finally,  made 
desperate  by  lack  of  reinforcements,  they 
surrendered  to  his  army  of  twenty  thousand 
men,  having  defended  themselves  with 
unexpected  success  for  at  least  ten  days. 
The  prisoners,  four  hundred  and  twelve  in 
number,  were  condemned  to  death,  and 
hanged  on  the  trees  in  the  camp.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  main  force  of  the  Swiss 
advanced  from  Neuchatel  to  meet  Cliarles, 
the  Bold,  with  perhaps  eighteen  tliousand 
troops.  The  two  armies  met  near  the  spur 
which  descends  from  the  Jura  down  to  the 
lake,  at  the  hamlet  of  La  Lance,  some  five 
miles  north  of  Grandson.  The  Swiss  drove 
the  Burgundian  outposts  down  the  slopes, 
and,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  scattered 
the  magnificent  army  of  Charles,  the  Bold, 
helter-skelter  over  the  plain.  There  was 
comparatively  little  loss  of  life,  but  the 
booty    found    in    the     camp     was    simply 


f32  ROMANXE   SWITZERLAND. 

invaluable.  "  The  Duke  had  brought  with 
him  the  paraphernalia  of  his  chapel  and 
table,  habiliments  and  regalia  used  on 
occasions  of  state."  *  No  wonder  the 
rude  Swiss  were  demoralized  by  these 
riches,  and  quarrelled  over  them  for  years 
after.  Jomini  explains  the  Burgundian 
defeat  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  tactician 
in  the  following  manner:  "  Charles  had 
committed  the  fault  of  encamping  with  one 
of  his  wings  resting  on  a  lake,  the  other, 
ill  assured,  at  the  foot  of  wooded  inoun- 
tains."  t 

There  is  a  certain  family  likeness 
between  the  battles  of  Grandson  and 
Morat.  They  both  began  with  obstinately 
contested  sieges,  the  whole  Burgundian 
army  attacking  a  relatively  small  Swiss 
garrison,  and  both  ended  in  great  pitched 
battles  which  proved  overwhelming  vic- 
tories for  the  Swiss. 

In  June  of  the  same  year,  Charles,  the 
Bold,  returned  to  the  charge  against  Bern, 

*  Kirk,  J.  F.     History  of  Charles,  the  Bold,  Duke 
of  Burgvindy,  vol.  iii.,  p.  342. 
t  Ibid,  p.  346. 


TWO   BURGUNDIAX    BATTLEFIELDS.     1 33 

but  this  time  by  way  of  Alorat.  On  the 
9th  of  June,  1476,  his  army  encamped 
before  that  little  walled  town,  which  has 
preserved  its  antique  aspect  to  this  day 
with  singular  perfection. 

It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  anything 
more  faultlessly  feudal  than  that  first  sight 
of  Morat  from  the  land  side,  when  you 
leave  the  railroad  station,  —  the  circling 
wall,  the  strong  towers  springing  at  inter- 
vals from  its  top,  the  castle  in  one  corner, 
and  round  about  the  fields  and  gardens  of 
living  green  to  set  off  this  medieval  jewel. 
On  the  other  side  of  Morat,  the  placid  lake 
pales  under  the  noonday  sun,  the  vine-clad 
hill  of  Vully  shuts  off  the  lake  of  Neucha- 
tel,  and  a  pathetic  by-gone  glory  hovers 
about  its  small  provincial  buildings. 

As  the  railroad  station  is  some  distance 
off,  you  have  time  to  drop  all  modernness 
by  the  wayside,  and  compose  your  mind  in 
a  feudal  frame  before  the  gate  is  reached. 
Within  the  walls,  the  spirit  of  remote 
centuries  reigns  undisturbed.  Two  long 
parallel  streets  run  from  end  to  end,  with  a 
few  cross-cuts  to  connect  them.  The  white 
houses    of    stone   and   mortar   have    wide, 


134  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

overhanging  eaves  that,  on  the  side  streets, 
shelter  rows  of  yellow  ears  of  corn,  or  bun- 
dles of  flax  and  hemp,  strung  up  to  dry. 

If  the  very  streets  breathe  the  atmosphere 
of  another  age,  the  wooden  gallery  which 
skirts  the  wall  on  the  inside,  is  still  more 
full  of  feudal  flavor.  A  staircase  starts 
from  behind  the  church  in  one  corner. 
There  are  occasional  strong  towers  and 
peep-holes  everywhere.  The  mouldering 
beams,  now  pathetically  unsafe,  are 
scratched  full  of  lovers'  names.  This  is 
the  place  to  conjure  up  the  memorial  siege 
which  preceded  the  battle.  You  must 
imagine  the  Burgundian  host  encamped 
outside,  and  see  the  brave  defenders  on 
the  watch,  spread  along  this  gallery,  or 
rallying  at  the  gates. 

The  garrison  was  well  supplied  with 
ammunition  and  provisions,  and  com- 
manded by  the  intrepid  Adrian  von  Bubeu- 
berg.  Outside  the  wall,  there  were  ditches 
and  other  outworks,  but  Von  Bubenbcivj; 
ordered  the  gates  to  be  left  open,  in  order 
to  urge  his  men  to  vigilance.  The  siege 
was  carried  on  with  utmost  bitterness  by 
Charles,  the  Bold,  for  a  fortnight,  until  the 


TWO   BURGUNDIAX    BATTLEFIELDS.     135 

Swiss  Confederates  came  to  the  rescue. 
Some  stone  cannon-balls  may  still  be 
seen  imbedded  in  the  northern  wall,  — 
I  know  not  whether  actually  shot  there, 
or  only  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  after- 
ward walled  in. 

The  Swiss  advanced  with  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  the  same  in  number 
as  the  Burgundians.  They  came  over 
the  hills  from  Giimminen,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Saane,  and,  as  at  (irandson,  drove  the 
enemy  before  them  in  disorder.  The  battle 
degenerated  into  an  atrocious  butchery. 
The  Swiss  made  regular  sport  of  killing 
off  their  prisoners.  Some,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  chimneys  and  ovens  at  the  hamlet 
of  Faoug,  were  smoked  out.  Others  had 
climbed  into  the  great  walnut-trees  that 
lined  the  road  to  Avenches  ;  the  crossbow- 
men  stood  round  in  a  ring,  and  picked  them 
off,  calling  them  crows  for  fun.  But  by  far 
the  greater  number  were  driven  into  the 
lake,  drowned  or  shot  from  the  shore  like 
ducks,  with  many  jests  about  their  being 
thirsty  or  learning  to  swim. 

When  Bonaparte  passed  through  Moral 
in  1797,  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  If  ever 


136  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

we  give  battle  hereabouts,  be  sure  we  shall 
not  take  the  lake  for  our  line  of  retreat." 

Nine  years  after  the  battle,  Bern  and 
Fribourg  had  the  bones  of  the  fallen  gath- 
ered into  a  small  building,  with  a  chapel 
attaclied.  At  the  time  of  the  invasion 
of  Switzerland  by  French  Revolutionists, 
some  Burgundian  troops  destroyed  this 
ossuary ;  and  the  bones  remained  exposed 
for  many  years,  so  that  travellers  used  to 
carry  them  off  as  mementos.  Finally,  in 
1822,  the  small  obelisk  was  erected  which 
now  covers  the  site.  In  the  local  museum 
some  trophies  of  the  battle  are  kept,  and 
in  various  parts  of  Switzerland  travellers 
are  shown  objects  said  to  have  been  cap- 
tured from  Charles,  the  Bold.  It  is  diffi- 
cult at  this  late  date  to  identify  them. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  Swiss 
Confederation  bore  the  impress  of  these 
tremendous  victories  only  too  plainly.  The 
people  lusted  for  war,  no  longer  in  self- 
defence,  but  as  a  means  of  gaining  booty; 
and  though  the  nation  soon  after  reached 
the  very  pinnacle  of  its  military  prowess,  at 
heart  it  was  beginning  to  feel  the  corrupting 
influence  of  unworthy  motives. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

NEUCHATEL. 

APPROACH  it  as  you  will,  Neuchatel 
is  sure  to  charm  at  once  with  its  tran- 
quil beauty.  Whether  you  come  through 
the  Val  de  Travers,  or  from  Bienne,  or 
across  the  lake  from  Morat,  the  sight  of 
the  little  town  amid  its  vineyards,  with  that 
panoramic  sweep  of  the  Alps  before  it, 
never  fails  to  produce  an  impression  of 
joyful  surprise. 

Neuchatel  climbs  the  hillside  of  Chau- 
mont  from  a  line  of  quays  and  shade-trees 
upon  the  water-front,  up  through  irregular 
terraces  and  snug  gardens,  to  the  edge  of 
the  blue-black  forest  that  tops  the  Jura 
range.  Around  the  castle  hill,  as  a  nucleus, 
lies  the  old  town,  with  houses  closely  clus- 
tered, and  steep  little  streets  running  up  the 
incline.  But  in  the  modern  part  there  is  a 
broad,  winding  road  leading  to  the  station, 


138  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

and  pretty  villas  arc  sown  broadcast  among 
the  vineyards  on  the  outskirts. 

As  for  the  outlook  over  lake  and  moun- 
tain, it  is  unsurpassed,  in  its  way,  even  In 
Switzerland. 

In  fine  weather,  the  water  lies  pale  and 
placid,  of  a  sky-blue  monotone,  less  intense 
than  the  azure  of  Lake  Leman.  On  doubt- 
ful days,  however,  the  lake,  chameleon-like, 
changes  color  everv  hour. 

The  opposite  shore  reveals  many  hand- 
some aspects  in  flat  lines.  Beyond  it  rise 
first  the  fore-hills  of  the  Alps,  and  then 
the  great  pe;iks  themselves,  from  Pilatus 
to  Alont  Blanc,  —  an  immutable  phalanx, 
impalpable  and  misty,  suggesting  reveries 
and  inspiring  poetry. 

Dumas  the  Elder  once  said  of  Neuchatel, 
that  it  had  ''the  appearance  of  an  immense 
plaything  carved  in  butter."'  In  fact,  a 
singular  effect  is  produced  by  the  use,  in 
the  construction  of  almost  all  the  houses,  of 
a  certain  yellow  stone,  called  neocomian;* 
and  yet  there  is  no  painful  glare,  as  often 
in   Geneva,  where  a  white,  chalky  stone  is 

*  From  Greek  i-co?  (new)  and  KoJai;  (town),  —  that 
is,  Neuchatel. 


NEUCHATEL.  139 

used  extensively,  but,  on  the  contrary,  Neu- 
chatel  is  full  of  an  agreeable  yellow  light, 
harmonizing  with  the  blue  of  the  lake. 

At  present,  the  town  can  boast  of  only 
one  mediaeval  spot;  for  the  walls  and  gates 
which  once  surrounded  the  town  have 
yielded  to  the  expanding  force  of  progress 
and  prosperity.  This  witness  of  the  past 
is  the  hill  upon  which  stand  the  castle, 
church,  and  cloisters.  At  its  foot  may  still 
be  seen  an  ancient  tower,  the  Tour  de 
Diesse,  now  somewhat  ruthlessly  modern- 
ized by  the  addition  of  a  four-faced  clock. 
Two  old  fountains  near  by  are  ornamented, 
one  with  a  banneret-bearer,  and  the  other 
with  some  mysterious  heraldic  animal.  But 
on  top  of  the  hill  there  is  a  group  of 
remarkable  buildings,  not  large  or  impos- 
ing, but  singularly  attractive,  built  of  the 
characteristic  local  stone,  and  belonging 
architecturally  to  the  Burgundian  period. 
They  are  symbolical  of  Neuchatel  itself, 
admirable  for  their  miniature  grace  and 
orderliness. 

F'irst,  the  Church  of  the  ColMgiale,  or 
the  Temple  du  Haut,  with  choir  and  lateral 


140  ROMANXE    SWITZERLAND. 

door  in  pure  Romanesque,  two  comical 
little  spires,  and  a  marvellous  Gothic  monu- 
ment to  the  Counts  of  Neuchatel.  This 
last  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  remains 
of  its  kind  in  Europe,  containing  no  less 
than  fifteen  life-size  statues  of  various 
members  of  the  family.  At  the  time  of 
the  Reformation,  it  was  almost  destroyed, 
and,  as  now  seen,  is  the  result  of  careful 
restoration.  On  the  wall  opposite  the 
monument  is  carved  the  following  signifi- 
cant inscription:  Z'(Z«  1530,  le  23  d^octobre, 
fjit  ostee  et  abattiie  Fidolatrie  de  ceans  par 
les  bourgeois.  But  though,  at  the  time  of 
tlie  Reformation,  the  church  was  swept 
clean  of  almost  all  ornaments,  nothing  can 
obliterate  its  pleasing  proportions  and 
graceful  lines. 

On  the  terrace,  in  front  of  the  church, 
stands  a  statue  of  f'arel.  He  is  clad  in  a 
flowing  preacher's  gown,  and  holds  a  Bible 
with  both  hands  high  above  his  head,  while 
his  fierce,  fanatical  face,  with  straggling 
beard,  lowers  from  under  his  beret.  A 
strange  product  of  the  Reformation,  this 
Farel  !  Born  in  the  south  of  France,  a 
student  in  Paris,  and  a  wandering  preacher 


XEUCHATEL.  141 

in  Switzerland,  he  died  in  Neuchitel,  after 
suffering  repeated  persecutions  and  im- 
prisonments. Pliilippe  Godet  speaks  of 
him  as  "a  soul  of  fire  and  faith."*  His 
contemporaries  describe  him  as  a  man  of 
small  stature,  with  unkempt  red  beard,  burn- 
ing eyes,  a  tremendous  voice,  and  a  natural 
eloquence  which  was  simply  irresistible. 

In  strange  contrast  to  the  scenes  of  reli- 
gious violence,  evoked  by  the  name  of  Farel, 
is  the  old-time  peace  which  reigns  undis- 
turbed in  the  restored  cloisters  adjoining 
the  church.  The  sun  pours  down  upon 
the  little  grass-plots  laid  out  within  the 
enclosure,  and  casts  furtive  glances  into 
the  seclusion  of  the  cloisters.  Ivy  trails 
along  the  ground,  and  climbs  decorously 
up  the  sides. 

For  a  view,  commend  me  to  the  battle- 
mented  terrace,  where  children  play,  while 
their  mothers  knit  and  gossip.  The  life  of 
the  rustic  city  lies  at  your  feet.  A  steam- 
boat stops  at  the  pier  with  much  churning 
of  the  water.  Some  boys  are  hurrying  to 
the   bathing-houses.     A  carter  cracks   his 

*  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  Suisse  Frangaise.     Xeu- 
chatel,     1890.     p.  54. 


r  ;.2  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

v/hip  in  the  narrow  street.  There  is  a 
breeze  fresh  from  across  the  water,  wliere 
a  long,  flat  cloud  lies  basking  on  the  moun- 
tain-side like  an  alligator.  Formerly,  the 
ancient  counts  used  to  hold  court  on  tliis 
terrace,  and  the  citizens  swore  fealtv  to  tlie 
reigning  house.  In  truth,  the  complete 
independence  of  Neuchatel  from  foreign 
rule  is  quite  a  modern  thing:  for  this 
Canton  is  the  Benjamin  of  the  Swiss  Con- 
federation, the  youngest-born  among  the 
brethren. 

Without  going  back  to  the  time  of  the 
lake-dwellers  and  the  Celtic  Sequani,  it  will 
suffice  to  point  out  that  a  strong  tower,  with 
small  surrounding  settlement,  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  town  in  early  mediaeval  times. 
It  went  by  the  name  of  Novum  Castrum, 
or  in  French,  Neuchatel.  From  1034  to 
1707,  a  number  of  different  families  suc- 
ceeded each  other  as  Counts  of  Neuchatel. 
Then  the  town  and  adjoining  country  dis- 
trict came  into  possession  of  the  crown  of 
Prussia.  In  1806,  after  the  battle  of  Aus- 
terlitz.  Napoleon  awarded  Neuchatel  to  his 
Marshal,  Berthier ;  but  in  18 14,  it  once  more 
became  a  Prussian   province,   and   in   the 


NEUCHATEL.  l^Z 

following  year,  strange  to  say,  joined  the 
Swiss  Confederation,  while  still  remaining 
in  nominal  subjection  to  a  distant  ruler. 
This  anomalous  position  led  to  internal 
insurrections  and  grave  international  com- 
plications. It  was  not  until  1857  that 
NeuchateTs  complete  emancipation  from 
Prussia  was  definitely  sanctioned  by  the 
Treaty  of  Paris. 

The  castle  is  a  composite  building  of 
several  epochs.  An  old  wing  of  exceed- 
ingly interesting  construction,  in  Byzantine 
Romanesque,  has  a  fagade  ornamented 
with  a  species  of  loggia.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  archaic  carving  in  unlikely  places. 
This  may  have  been  the  regalissima  sedes, 
or  most  royal  residence,  of  the  kings  of 
Transjurane  Burgundy,  mentioned  in  a 
document  of  loii.  It  has  lately  been 
restored,  with  scrupulous  exactness,  wher- 
ever the  stone  had  begun  to  crumble.  The 
main  body  of  the  castle  is  in  the  usual 
feudal  style,  and  there  is  a  brand-new  addi- 
tion containing  the  assembly  hall  for  the 
Grand  Council  of  the  Canton.  As  this 
group  of  buildings  is  the  seat  of  the  can- 
tonal government,  various  offices  face  upon 


144  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  castle  court,  their  modern  signs  con- 
trasting curiously  with  the  latter's  mediaeval 
aspect. 

Down  in  the  town  proper,  the  market- 
place is  worth  a  visit,  both  on  account  of 
the  quaint  building  known  as  the  Halles, 
which  stands  on  one  side  of  the  open 
space,  and  also  in  order  to  see  the  typical 
Neuchatelois.  On  market  days  there  are 
stalls  covered  with  snow-white  awnings ; 
wicker  baskets,  full  of  vegetables,  line  the 
square,  or  are  piled  up  empty  in  the  corners, 
ready  to  return  to  the  country.  The  peas- 
ants are  mostly  in  homespun  and  blue 
blouses  ;  the  women  wear  big  straw  hats. 
Maidservants,  in  the  neatest  of  print 
dresses,  carry  home  their  morning's  mar- 
keting. A  sober,  subdued  sort  of  bargain- 
ing goes  on,  befitting  the  character  of  the 
people. 

On  the  quaj's  everjlhing  is  modern,  for, 
in  fact,  this  quarter  of  the  town  was  created 
not  long  since  in  a  somewhat  unusual  man- 
ner. A  hill  near  the  station  was  found  to 
impede  the  growth  of  the  city.  It  was 
promptly   attacked  with   pick    and  shovel, 


NEUCHATEL.  I45 

and  the  refuse  dumped  bit  by  bit  along  the 
lake-front,  —  an  exhibition  of  remarkable 
municipal  enterprise.  One  is  astonished 
at  the  number  of  large  buildings,  standing 
in  an  almost  unbroken  row,  devoted  to 
educational  purposes,  —  veritable  palaces, 
upon  which  the  worthy  Neuchatelois  have 
lavished  great  sums  unstintingly.  Indeed, 
teaching  seems  to  be  the  principal  local 
industry,  instruction  the  staple  product  of 
the  town. 

For,  besides  the  usual  primary  and  sec- 
ondary schools,  there  is  a  Latin  college^ 
an  academy  with  four  faculties,  —  letters, 
science,  law,  and  theology,  —  a  commercial 
school,  a  school  of  watchmaking,  as  well 
as  laboratories,  and  manual  and  industrial 
traming-schools.  For  girls,  there  are  high 
and  normal  schools.  Near  by,  at  Cernier, 
the  Canton  maintains  an  agricultural  col- 
lege, and  at  Auvernier,  one  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  vine.  As  for  boarding-schools, 
i:.'$.^tz\'iS\.y  pettsionnats  for  girls,  they  abound 
on  every  hand,  and  are  widely  known  for 
the  thorough  and  practical  instruction  they 
afford.  Nor  must  one  forget  to  mention  a 
peculiar  custom  which  still  flourishes  to 
10 


146  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

a  certain  extent,  and  exerts  an  educational 
influence.  Families  from  French  and  Ger- 
man Switzerland  often  exchange  sons  and 
daughters  for  a  few  years,  in  order  to  have 
their  children  learn  the  languages.  No 
simpler  and  cheaper  method  of  instruction 
could  be  devised.  It  is  worthy  of  the 
practical  common-sense  of  the  Swiss 
people. 

Perhaps  the  most  astonishing  evidence 
of  the  vigorous  intellectual  and  artistic 
life  of  Neuchatel  is  furnished  by  the  Mu- 
seum of  Fine  Arts,  which  adorns  the  new 
quay.  It  is  certainly  worth  careful  exami- 
nation, with  its  souvenirs  of  the  Prussian 
dominion,  now  so  strangely  incongruous 
in  a  Swiss  canton,  its  array  of  ancient  flags 
and  furniture,  of  armor,  costumes,  house- 
hold implements,  and  porcelain  stoves. 
Especially  valuable  are  the  specimens  of 
old  watchmaking,  the  coins,  and  por- 
traits of  famous  men  of  Neuchatel,  such 
as  Agassiz,  Desor,  and  De  Pourtales.  Of 
course,  the  inevitable  collection  of  lake- 
dwelling  remains,  whicli  figures  in  every 
Swiss  museum,  is  there  also.  The  picture 
gallery,    on    the    second     tloor,    has    some 


NEUCHATEL.  I47 

really  fine  work  to  show,  —  notably  the 
mountain  effects  of  Calame  and  A.  H. 
Berthoud,  the  charming  bits  around  Neu- 
chatel  by  Dubois,  Bachehn's  military 
subjects,  and  at  least  one  worl<  of  that 
admirable  Swiss  artist,  Anker.  There  arc, 
of  course,  some  pretentious  pieces  in 
pseudo-classic  style,  which  make  quite  a 
show  on  the  catalogue,  and  may  impose 
on  rustic  visitors,  f'ortunately,  however, 
modern  art  has  outgrown  that  posing,  far- 
fetched phase  which  set  at  naught  truth 
and  actuality. 

As  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  find  any- 
thing in  Neuchdtel  of  which  one  can 
speak  disparagingly,  tlic  ugliness  of  tlie 
Hotel  de  Ville  is  almost  welcome.  Surely 
that  heavy,  inartistic  faqade  was  a  momen- 
tary aberration  of  the  worthy  townsmen's 
taste.  At  all  events,  its  appearance  dis- 
courages a  closer  acquaintance  with  the 
interior  of   the  structure. 

In  regard  to  business  enterprises,  the 
inhabitants  have  always  sought  to  keep 
manufactures  out  of  the  town  proper.  A 
certain  amount  of  watchmaking  has  de- 
scended    from    the    vallcvs    of    tlic    Jura. 


148  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

There  are  also  plants  for  the  making  of 
electric  apparatus  and  cables.  Wine,  ab- 
sinthe, and  Swiss  champagne  are  pre- 
pared to  some  extent ;  but  in  general  the 
great  industries  are  scattered  about  in 
various  parts  of  the  Canton.  Watch- 
making flourishes  principally  at  La  Chaux- 
de-Fonds*  and  Le  Locle,  large  villages 
situated  in  rugged  Alpine  valleys  of  the 
Jura.  The  wealth  of  the  Val  de  Travers 
consists  in  absinthe  and  asphalt,  the  for- 
mer being  exported  in  tremendous  quan- 
tities to  France  and  her  colonies,  the  latter 
worked  by  an  English  company.  Compara- 
tively little  ordinary  farming  is  done.  On 
the  other  hand,  vine-growing  is  carried  to 
a  degree  of  perfection  and  precision  truly 
remarkable.  Cortaillod  furnishes  a  wine 
highly  prized  in  Switzerland.  The  cele- 
brated Suchard  chocolate  is  manufactured 
just  outside  of  Neuchatel,  in  the  Gorge  de 
Serrieres,  visible  from  the  train  on  the 
road  to  Lausanne. 

*  I.a  Chaux-de-F(inds  has  more  than  twenty-two 
thousand  inhabitants,  and  is  known  as  the  most 
nrpulous  village  in   Europe. 


NEUCHATEL.  149 

But  what  of  the  people  themselves,  of 
the  Neuchatelois  ?  Of  course  there  are 
types  differing  from  each  other,  even  in 
this  little  Canton.  The  vigneron,  a  crude, 
hard-fisted  peasant,  bending  over  his  vines 
from  sunrise  to  sunset,  sobered  by  the 
monotony  and  regularity  of  his  tasks,  and 
the  descendant  of  the  native  aristocracy, 
cradled  in  the  memories  of  the  Prussian 
regime,  have  at  first  sight  little  in  common. 
But  there  are,  in  truth,  local  traits.  Rous- 
seau, writing  in  1763  to  the  Marshal  of 
Luxembourg,  painted  a  very  unflattering 
portrait  of  the  Neuchatelois.  "  Much  wit 
and  still  more  pretension,"  he  writes,  "  but 
without  taste  :  that  is  wliat  impressed  me 
at  first  among  the  Neuchatelois.  They 
talk  well,  and  with  ease,  but  they  write 
monotonously  and  badly,  especially  when 
they  want  to  write  lightly;  and  that  they 
always  want  to  do.  .  .  .  They  think  them- 
selves pohte,  because  they  are  full  of  man- 
nerisms, and  gay,  because  they  are  turbu- 
lent. .  .  .  The  sex  is  not  beautiful  there. 
.  .  .  The  religion  upon  which  they  pride 
themselves  serves  rather  to  make  them 
fault-finding  than  good." 


150  ROMANXE   SWITZERLAND. 

There  may  have  been  some  justification 
for  Rousseau's  complaints  in  1763,  for  it 
must  be  remembered  that  art  and  letters 
were  only  beginning  to  be  appreciated  at 
Neuchatel  in  those  days.  In  fact,  his  pres- 
ence had  aroused  an  interest  in  such  mat- 
ters, and  the  first  results,  obtained  by  the 
citizens,  were  doubtless  somewhat  crude 
and  pretentious.  The  prevailing  Puritan- 
ism was  more  uncompromising  in  his  day; 
it  was,  moreover,  outraged  by  his  sayings, 
and  probably  affected  greater  primness, 
than  was  natural,  in  his  presence.  Nor 
was  Rousseau  himself  in  a  fit  frame  of 
mind  to  render  an  unbiased  judgment,  for 
he  was  embittered  by  a  series  of  more  or 
less  imaginary  persecutions.  At  all  events, 
Rousseau's  portrait  is  no  longer  a  true 
one. 

Let  me  confess  at  once  to  an  undisguised 
admiration  for  those  fresh  young  girls  of 
whom  Neuchatel  somehow  seems  to  have 
a  disproportionately  large  supply.  Are 
there  such  complexions  to  be  found  else- 
where in  Switzerland?  Perhaps  in  Lau- 
sanne, but  rarely  in  Geneva.  Such  joyous 
pinks  upon   a  white  which   is   slightly  sun- 


NEUCHATEL.  I51 

burnt,  giving  an  effect  of  urban  refinement 
and  rustic  health  all  in  one.  In  truth, 
there  is  a  distinct  local  complexion.  Let 
it  be  prized  as  it  deserves. 

On  pleasant  summer  evenings,  the  quays 
become  the  great  resort  of  young  and  old, 
taking  the  air.  They  are  the  rendezvous  of 
the  students  of  the  Academy,  who  stalk 
about,  wearing  colored  caps,  and  brandish- 
ing canes  of  impossible  shapes.  Although 
absurdly  self-conscious,  and  displaying  an 
infinite  variety  of  provoking  swaggers,  they 
are,  for  all  that,  good  fellows,  and  make 
steady  citizens.  Young  girls,  in  twos  and 
threes,  walk  about  chatting  with  a  freedom 
which  is  almost  American.  Old  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  seated  on  the  benches,  are  sol- 
emnly reminiscent,  talking  in  that  charming 
French  of  which  Neuchatel  is  justly  proud. 
A  cool  air  comes  from  the  lake,  where 
some  youngsters  in  boats  are  taking  a  spir. 
before  dark. 

As  a  somewhat  disquieting  fact  for  the 
older  residents,  may  be  noted  the  steady 
influx  of  German  Swiss  into  the  Canton. 
Their  grating  guttural,  doubly  unpleasant 
in  a   French  environment,  is  heard  more 


152  ROMANX'E   SWITZERLAND. 

often  every  year  upon  the  streets ;  they 
already  fill  almost  all  the  lower  grades  of 
labor.  At  the  present  time,  it  is  calculated 
that  there  are  actually  more  German  than 
French  speaking  Swiss  in  the  Canton. 
"We  are  in  the  midst  of  an  invasion," 
M.  Godet  said  to  me.  Not  that  this 
movement  is  of  recent  origin,  for  the  fer- 
tility of  the  Canton  and  its  business  enter- 
prises have  always  to  a  certain  extent  acted 
as  magnets  for  the  German-speaking  neigh- 
bors. At  the  same  time,  the  children  of 
these  immigrants  rapidly  acquire  French, 
and  become  good  citizens.  It  is  only  nat- 
ural, however,  that  a  certain  latent  race- 
antipathy  should  be  aroused  during  the 
process  of  absorption. 

Alike  in  the  vigjioble  and  the  f/iontagne, 
the  Neuchatelois  are  by  temperament  solid, 
sob'jr  people,  still  to  a  great  extent  imbued 
with  the  hard  piousness  of  Protestantism  ; 
practical  in  affairs,  like  the  Swiss  in  gen- 
eral, not  speculative  or  adventurous;  dis- 
tinctly provincial,  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
word.  They  possess  a  modern  school  of 
literature  quite  apart,  —  a  school  marked  by 
an   ingrained    love  of  that  smaller  patrie, 


SWISS-AMERICAN    SCIENTISTS.         1 53 

which  may  be  a  native  vineclad  slope  or  a 
Jura  valley.  It  is  a  literature  dealing  in 
minute  details,  painstaking,  and  depicting 
laboriously  local  manners  and  scenery. 

Taken  all  in  all,  Neuchatel,  the  town, 
impresses  one  as  somewhat  of  a  rustic 
Athens,  the  centre  of  a  cultured  Arcadia. 
Its  Museum  of  Fine  Arts,  standing  almost 
among  the  vineyards,  is  typical  of  this 
unique  combination  of  the  cultivation  of 
the  mind  with  manual  toil.  Is  it  not  an 
idyl,  that  modest  little  town  with  its  vast 
panorama,  performing  its  simple  tasks  in 
the  face  of  a  truly  noble  intellectual  hori- 
zon.^ Is  it  not  surprisingly  complete  in 
everything  which  advanced  civilization 
really  needs?  Surely,  in  such  an  atmos- 
phere, labor  must  cease  to  be  drudgery, 
and  local  pride  must  become  a  prime  vir- 
tue. May  the  mania  for  centralization 
never  disturb  these  ideal  conditions  ! 

Svviss-American  Scientists. 

Little  Neuchatel  once  placed  America 
under  great  obligation  by  lending  it 
two   very   exceptional  men   of    science,  — 


154  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Louis  Jean  Rodolphe  Agassiz  (r8o7-i873) 
and  Arnold  Henri  Guyot  (i  807-1884). 
Tliey  were  colleagues  in  the  Academy  at 
Neuchatel,  co-operated  in  exploring  and 
studying  the  glaciers,  went  to  America  at 
about  the  same  time,  and  eventually  took 
professorships  in  two  of  the  foremost  uni- 
versities of  the  United  States,  —  Agassiz  at 
Harvard  University,  and  Guyot  at  Prince- 
ton. By  quickening  and  ennobling  scien- 
tific studies,  they  earned  the  imperishable 
gratitude  of  their  adopted  land. 

The  great  originator  of  the  "Glacial 
Theory"  was  born  at  Motiers-en-Vully,  on 
the  lake  of  Morat.  His  father  was  pastor 
of  the  place.  At  an  early  age,  he  showed 
his  bent  for  original  research  in  natural 
history  by  turning  the  stone  basin,  under 
the  fountain  of  the  parsonage,  into  an 
aquarium.  His  student  days  were  spent 
at  Bienne,  Lausanne,  Zurich,  Heidelberg, 
and  Munich.  At  this  last  place,  he  became 
a  warm  friend  of  Ignaz  Dollinger,  Pro- 
fessor of  Comparative  Anatomy,  who  was 
the  father  of  that  famous  Dollinger  who 
acquired  celebrity  as  an  opponent  of  Papal 
Infallibility.      Agassiz    used    to    assemble 


SWISS-AMERICAN    SCIENTISTS.  1 55 

enthusiastic  fellow-students  for  lectures  on 
original  work,  so  that  his  study  was  nick- 
named "  The  Little  Academy." 

In  Paris,  the  young  scientist  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Von  Humboldt,  who  from 
chat  time  on  was  able  to  render  him  many 
services.  Agassiz  first  made  his  mark  as  an 
ichthyologist.  At  twenty-two,  he  brought 
out  his  "Brazilian  Fishes;"  in  1832,  was 
made  Professor  at  the  Lyceum  of  Neucha- 
tel,  where  he  aroused  the  keenest  inter- 
est, teaching  his  pupils  as  much  as  possible 
out-of-doors,  and  in  1837,  read  his  famous 
treatise  before  the  Helvetic  Society  of 
Natural  Sciences,  assembled  at  Neuchatel, 
m  which  he  expounded  for  the  first  time  his 
now  very  generally  accepted  glacial  theory. 
Venetz  and  Charpentier  had  to  some  extent 
paved  the  way  for  this  announcement ; 
nevertheless,  it  met  with  a  good  deal  of 
opposition.  Agassiz  determined  to  place 
his  theory  upon  indisputable  ground  by 
collecting  all  the  necessary  facts  himself. 
This  was  the  origin  of  periodic  excursions 
to  the  glaciers  at  Chamonix,  Zermatt,  and 
especially  to  the  Aar  Gletscher,  near  the 
Grimsel  Pass.     Agassiz  was  accompanied 


156  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

by  Karl  Vogt,  F,  de  Pourtales,  and  Edouard 
Desor,  while  Guyot,  Forbes,  and  others 
made  temporary  visits.  Desor  constituted 
himself  chronicler  of  their  excursions. 
He  has  told  the  story  of  their  hardships 
and  adventures  in  two  books,  now  some- 
what rare,  —  "  Excursions  et  S^jours  dans 
les  Glaciers  et  les  Hautes  Regions  des 
Alpes"  and  "  Nouvelles  Excursions." 

Taking  the  Grimsel  Hospice  as  a  base  of 
supplies,  this  band  of  climbing  scientists 
built  a  hut  on  the  great  moraine  of  the 
Aar  Gletscher,  under  the  shelter  of  an 
enormous  block  of  stone.  Their  temporary 
home  soon  became  known  as  the  "  Hotel 
des  Neuchatelois."'  Thence  they  could 
explore  the  surrounding  regions  of  ice  and 
snow  at  their  leisure.  The  task  of 
measuring  the  march  of  the  glaciers,  and 
of  taking  all  manner  of  observations,  was 
divided  among  them,  so  that  an  enormous 
amount  of  work  was  accomplished.  The 
result  was  Agassiz's  "  Etudes  sur  les 
Glaciers." 

These  glacial  investigations  lasted  some 
eight  or  nine  years,  until  1845.  Then 
Agassiz  sailed  for  the  United  States,  and 


SWISS-AMERICAN    SCIENTISTS.        I  57 

finally  made  his  home  permanently  at 
Cambridge,  Mass.  As  early  as  1835,  he 
had  corresponded  with  Professor  Silliman 
of  Yale  College,  and  in  fact  had  long 
desired  to  visit  and  explore  the  New 
World. 

His  career  in  America  was  exceedingly 
brilliant,  and  his  name  stands  for  everything 
that  is  worthiest  in  the  scientific  develop- 
ment of  that  country.  From  first  to  last, 
however,  he  resolutely  rejected  the  theory 
of  evolution,  and  clung  to  the  old-fashioned 
idea  of  independent  creations.  When 
Agassiz  died,  a  block  was  selected  from  the 
many  lying  on  the  moraine  of  the  Aar 
Gletscher  to  place  upon  his  tomb.  It  was 
so  monumental  in  form  that  not  a  touch  of 
the  hammer  was  needed  to  fit  it  for  its 
purpose. 

Arnold  Guyot  was  not  the  author  of  any 
startling,  comprehensive  theory,  nor  did  his 
reputation  ever  attain  the  splendor  of 
Agassiz's.  He  was  rather  an  adapter,  a 
generalizer  and  popularizer  of  ideas.  His 
name  is  especially  identified  with  the  work 
of  reconciling    science   with    religion,  —  of 


158  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

establishing  friendly  relations  between  the 
discoveries  of  modern  science  and  the  Bible. 
This  is  the  task  he  set  himself  in  his  work 
on  "The  Earth  and  Man."  As  a  text- 
book, his  "  Physical  Geograpliy  "  is  widely 
known  and  highly  prized.  The  original 
work  that  he  did  in  the  observation  of 
glaciers  went  into  the  "  Systeme  Glaciaire," 
in  which  he  collaborated  with  Agassiz  and 
Desor;  so  that,  on  the  whole,  he  is  likely  to 
be  best  known  to  future  generations  as  a 
geographer,  who  was  able  to  treat  his  sub- 
ject at  once  accurately  and  in  a  popular 
manner. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

FRIBOURG   AND   ROMONT. 

ALMOST  everybody  passes  the  "City 
of  Bridges"  in  making  the  regular 
Swiss  tour,  but  few  people  take  time  to 
stop  over  for  a  nearer  view.  And  yet  what 
one  sees  from  the  train  is  very  tantalizing 
indeed.  There  never  was  such  a  fantasti- 
cally built  place  as  Fribourg.  It  gives  one 
the  impression  of  being  a  deliberate  caprice, 
a  fairy-tale  freak.  Dumas  was  much 
amused  by  it.  "  Altogether,  Fribourg  looks 
like  the  result  of  a  wager,"  he  wrote, 
"made  by  some  whimsical  architect  after  a 
copious  dinner.  It  is  the  most  hump- 
backed city  that  I  know  of."  Since  his 
day,  fortunately,  suspension  bridges  have 
been  laid  across  the  chasm  made  by  the 
river.  Indeed,  it  is  hard  to  understand  how 
the  inhabitants  ever  had  the  patience  to 
live  there  before  those  modern  improve- 
ments. 


l6o  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

Fribourg  undoubtedly  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  Bern.  The  Sarine  curls 
around  the  foot  of  a  rocky  promontory 
much  in  the  same  way  as  the  Aar  does. 
There  is  the  same  grouping  of  houses 
above  the  steep  slopes,  topped  by  spires, 
and  on  the  outskirts,  the  same  occasional 
stretches  of  city  wall,  flanked  by  towers. 
Near  the  station  itself  stands  that  unique 
Tour  de  Henry,  —  a  superb  specimen  of 
fourteenth-century  fortification  architecture. 
It  presents  a  concave  surface  towards  the 
outside,  but  is  open  on  its  city  side,  so  that, 
even  if  the  enemy  succeeded  in  capturing 
it,  they  would  be  unprotected  and,  therefore, 
more  easily  dislodged.  Another  point  of 
resemblance  is  that  both  cities  were 
founded  as  strongholds  by  the  Dukes  of 
Zaeringen,  to  help  maintain  thuir  ma.Nterv 
over  rival  Burgundian  nobles,  —  only  Fri- 
bourg has  the  advantage  of  Bern  by  a  feu- 
years.  It  was  a  Berchtold  W.  who,  in 
1 1 76  or  1 1 78,  enlarged  a  small  settlement 
upon  the  banks  of  the  Sarine  into  the 
stately  city  that  we  see  to-day.  Bern  was 
not  founded  till  1191.  This  blood  relation- 
ship,  however,  did  not  prevent  the   sister 


FRIBOURG.  l6l 

cities  from  waging  continual  war  upon  each 
other.  There  was  never  any  love  lost 
between  them,  until  Bern,  in  the  end,  grew 
so  powerful  as  to  be  able  to  disregard  her 
former  rival. 

The  hotels  are  certainly  second-rate  ;  and 
if  anybody  does  stop  over  at  Fribourg,  it  is 
usually  in  order  to  hear  the  organ  in  the 
Church  of  St.  Nicholas,  justly  famed  for 
its  extraordinary  capabilities.  A  concer*^ 
is  given  twice  a  day,  when  a  sufficient 
number  of  people  present  themselves  to 
make  up  the  sum  of  twenty  francs.  Or 
an  evening  the  effect  is  overpowering. 
The  church  is  dim  and  holy  with  a  half- 
light  ;  a  smell  of  spent  incense  hovers  about ; 
and  the  images  and  tablets,  with  their 
gilded  tinsel,  seem  almost  like  good  art.  A 
moment  is  given  you  to  compose  your 
mind,  before  the  first  notes  of  the  organ 
steal  through  the  recesses  of  the  rafters, 
down  the  Gothic  arches,  to  the  aisles  and 
the  audience.  Those  to  whom  music  means 
much,  must  hear  thi.s  organ  to  appreciate 
the  various  effects  it  can  be  made  to  pro- 
duce :  the  ringing  peals  of  praise  that  fall, 
-efined  and  rarefied,  from  the  vaulted  ceiling, 
II 


l62  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAXD. 

the  golden,  angelic  arpeggios  that  are  whis- 
pered through  the  carved  stalls,  or  the 
plaintive  tones  of  prayer  that  penetrate  to 
the  very  altars  of  the  side  chapels.  The 
organist  usually  gives  the  tourists  a  rep- 
resentation of  a  storm,  to  show  off  t'lie 
instrument,  bringing  out  all  the  accessories 
of  crashing  tb.under  and  pattering  rain. 
This  is  certainly  the  most  popular  piece 
on  the  programme.  As  for  the  rest,  the 
very  best  music  is  selected  for  these 
concerts. 

In  front  of  the  Hotel  de  Ville  stands  a 
wonderful  old  lime-tree,  supported  by  stone 
pillars.  Tlie  tradition  is  that  it  was  planted 
there  after  tlie  victory  of  Morat,  in  1476, 
from  a  twig  which  the  messenger  who 
brought  the  good  news  bore  in  his  hat. 
He  fell  dead  on  the  spot,  overcome  by  his 
efforts,  and  his  fellow-citizens  honored  his 
memory  in  this  beautiful  manner. 

Fribourg  has  produced  few  celebrities, 
as  it  has  also  played  a  very  small  part  in 
the  world's  history.  But  there  are  two 
personages  who  deserve  to  be  mentioned, 
for  their  fame  has  crossed  the  frontiers  of 


FRIBOURG.  163 

Switzerland,  —  Pere  Grdgoire  Girard,  the 
educator,  and  the  Duchesse  Adele  Colonna 
of  Castiglione-Aldebrandini,  the  sculptor, 
better  known  as  "  Marcello." 

Gregoire  Girard,  in  truth,  represents  the 
best  glory  of  Fribourg.  In  French  Swit- 
zerland he  stood  for  that  radical  reform 
in  education,  which  his  contemporaries, 
Pestalozzi  and  Fellenberg,  were  demon- 
strating on  independent  lines  in  German 
Switzerland.  He  belongs  to  that  noble 
group  of  pioneer  schoolmasters  who  have 
founded  the  modern  system  of  pedagogy 
upon  natural  principles,  discarding  the  arti- 
ficial traditions  of  medieevalism.  Indeed, 
his  boyhood  was  in  itself  a  perfect  prepara- 
tion for  his  life-work. 

He  was  born  in  1765,  the  seventh  child  in 
a  family  of  fifteen.  In  helping  his  mother 
to  bring  up  the  eight  brothers  and  sisters 
who  followed  him,  he  unconsciously  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  educational  system. 
After  studying  at  Luzern  and  Wiirzburg, 
he  joined  the  order  of  the  Franciscans, 
worked  among  the  poor  of  Bern,  and 
was  finally  called,  with  his  order,  to  his 
native     city    to     re-organize    the  primary 


164  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

schools.  He  soon  made  them  famous  by 
his  original  and  successful  methods.  Pes- 
talozzi  apparently  thought  that  mathematics 
were  best  suited  to  develop  the  faculties  of 
children ;  Girard  taught  his  scholars  by 
the  study  of  their  native  language.  \'isitors 
came  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  examine 
his  system,  and  his  text-books  were  in 
great  demand.  But  Girard  was  a  liberal 
Catholic,  who  read  Kant,  and  co-operated 
with  Protestants  in  the  good  cause.  More- 
over, he  was  a  Franciscan  ;  and  so  when  the 
Ultramontane  Jesuits  got  control  of  Fri- 
bourg,  they  drove  him  out,  and  reduced 
his  school  to  its  former  mediocrity.  In 
1834,  however,  Girard  was  allowed  to 
return,  thenceforth  to  exercise,  undisturbed, 
his  influence  upon  the  primary  schools. 
He  also  wrote  a  whole  series  of  text-books, 
and  died  in  1850,  universally  beloved  and 
regretted.  His  fellow-citizens  have  erected 
a  statue  to  him  near  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 

"  Marcello  "  was  quite  another  type. 
Her  grandfather  was  Count  Charles  Affry, 
who  commanded  a  regiment  of  the  Swiss 
Guard  of  Louis  XVI.,  and  died  fighting  in 
the  famous  massacre  at  the  Tuileries.    She 


FRIBOURG.  165 

was  married  at  Rome,  in  1856,  to  the  Duke 
Colonna,  but  became  a  widow  at  tlie  end  of 
the  same  year.  Then  she  left  for  Paris, 
where  her  beauty  and  talent  made  her  a 
central  social  fiijure  in  the  throng  that  ren- 
dered Paris  brilliant  during  the  last  years 
of  the  Second  Empire.  But  she  withdrew 
more  and  more  to  the  seclusion  of  her 
studio.  One  year,  Paris  had  been  sur- 
prised to  see  a  wonderful  "  Gorgon's  Head  " 
at  the  Salon,  signed  "  Marcello  ;  "  and  from 
that  time  on  the  works  of  the  artist  were 
hailed  as  great  creations.  Wrapped  up  in 
her  work,  she  finally  returned  to  Italy,  and 
died  "literally  of  art,"  as  Aleissonier  is 
reported  to  have  said.  She  was  only  forty- 
two  ;  but  she  left  a  noble  legacy  to  Fribourg 
in  the  "  Marcello  Museum,"  which  is  now 
contained  in  two  rooms  on  the  ground-floor 
of  the  Cantonal  Museum.  On  the  whole, 
this  collection  is  a  better  monument  to  her 
than  any  statue  could  be. 

The  modern  life  of  Fribourg  is  singu- 
larly uninteresting.  As  the  headquarters 
of  Catholicism  in  French  Switzerland,  it 
makes  a  merit  of  resisting  all  innovations. 


l66  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

The  Canton  of  Fribourg  is  the  only  one  in 
Switzerland  which  has  not  adopted  the 
Referendum,  in  some  form  or  other.  But 
to  mock  this  conservatism,  the  peculiarity 
of  the  city's  position  forced  it,  in  1834,  to 
supply  itself  with  one  of  the  first  great 
suspension  bridges  of  modern  times. 

Not  only  is  Fribourg  a  city  of  bridges 
and  a  centre  of  bigotry,  but  it  is  also 
bi-lingual.  Situated  on  the  boundary  line 
between  French  and  German  speaking 
races,  it  has  for  centuries  formed  the  battle- 
ground of  their  respective  languages.  At 
present,  French  seems  to  be  supplanting 
German,  which  is  now  spoken  only  in  the 
lower  quarters.  In  many  parts  of  Switzer- 
land, the  reverse  is  often  the  case. 

When  all  is  said  and  done,  Fribourg  re- 
mains essentially  an  artist's  paradise,  ren- 
dered all  the  more  attractive  by  its  very 
lack  of  progress.  There  is  one  corner,  in 
particular,  which  could  not  be  more  mediae- 
val if  it  tried.  It  has  a  fountain,  with  a 
carved  column  surmounted  by  a  knight  in 
armor;  apiece  of  the  town  wall  shows  at 
the  back,  with  a  gallery  running  along  the 
top ;  and  a  little  chapel  is  perched  sugges- 


ROMONT.  167 

lively  at  the  side.  I  leave  the  reader  to 
discover  this  spot  for  himself.  Perhaps  he 
will  run  across  something  even  better  in 
his  search. 

ROMONT. 

Of  the  many  hill  towns  in  which  Romance 
Switzerland  rejoices,  Romont  is  certainly 
one  of  the  fairest.  It  looks  as  though  it 
had  escaped  from  an  etching  of  Albrecht 
Diirer.  A  monster  mound,  smooth  and 
green,  rises  from  the  plain ;  on  top  a  con- 
glomeration of  houses  are  bound  round  by 
a  wall ;  at  either  end  rises  a  tall,  round 
tower  with  peaked  roof,  and  smaller  ones 
dotted  along  the  outskirts.  There  is  an 
inclined  road  leading  up  from  the  station; 
a  border  of  poplars  scatter  their  silver 
sparkle  by  the  wayside ;  and  larks  sow 
their  songs  broadcast  over  the  fields  in 
broken  pulsations.  Over  all,  an  air  of 
provincial  prosperity  reigns  undisputed,  at 
once  old-fashioned,  and  yet  quite  in  keeping 
with  our  day. 

One  must  see  Romont,  if  possible,  on  an 
autumn  market-day,  when  the  vintage  has 
begun  in  the  Vaudois  vineyards,  and  the 


l68  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

cattle  are  already  down  from  their  summer 
pastures  on  the  neighl)oring  Gru3'ere  moun- 
tains. Then  it  is  that  cows  of  that  fine 
parti-colored  Swiss  breed  march  througli  the 
streets,  swinging  their  bells ;  great  cheeses 
like  grindstones  are  on  sale  in  the  stalls; 
and  baskets  overflow  with  the  first  grapes 
of  the  year,  —  yellow,  gold,  purple,  or  even 
magenta  where  the  sun  strikes  upon  them. 
The  bargains  that  are  made  mean  much  to 
the  people ;  a  transaction  in  cheeses  may 
determine  their  manner  of  life  for  the  whole 
winter.  No  wonder  the  men  look  so  glum 
and  grave,  and  the  women  show  so  much 
vim  and  volubility.  At  the  same  time, 
these  market-days  are  also  like  rural  recep- 
tions, where  friends  and  enemies  meet  after 
the  dispersion  of  the  summer.  There  are 
loud  greetings  between  Suzanne  and  ^larie ; 
while  Louis  and  Henri  go  off  to  drink  the 
new  wine  before  it  gets  sour,  and  to  clinch 
a  bargain  while  they  are  in  good  humor. 

The  Counts  of  Romont  were  vassals  of 
Savoy.  Their  old  castle  is  now  used  by 
the  local  authorities  for  police  and  otlier 
puqjoses,  but  you  can  still  enter  the  castle 
court  by  a  fine  old  gate.     The  holes  for  the 


KO-MOXT.  169 

drawbridge  chains  are  shown.  In  fact, 
every  provision  seems  to  have  been  made 
for  a  siege.  There  is  a  well  with  an  enor- 
mous wheel  and  bucket;  and  they  say  that 
underground  passages  run  from  the  two 
watch-towers,  at  the  ends  of  the  town,  to 
the  church,  where  the  garrison  could  con- 
sider themselves  inviolate. 

The  church  and  castle  are  not  what  they 
used  to  be,  and  the  market-days  only  come 
at  intervals ;  but  the  views  from  the  ram- 
parts endure  forever. 

As  is  only  right  and  proper,  these  useless 
fortifications  have  been  turned  into  lovers' 
walks ;  and  if  some  young  fellow  should 
have  any  hesitation  about  proposing  mar- 
riage, surely  a  stroll  there  by  moonlight 
must  put  him  in  the  proper  mood,  and  give 
him  courage.  You  look  over  the  rolling 
foothills  to  the  mountains  of  Gruyere,  and 
beyond  to  the  snow  giants,  the  Dent  du 
Midi  and  others  of  the  great  fraternity, 
that  seem  from  their  torn  and  gashed  ap- 
pearance actually  to  bite  into  the  sky. 
One  may  spend  many  a  delightful  musing 
moment  upon  these  ramparts  at  Romont, 
studying   the   lay   of    the   land,   and   even 


170  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

conjuring  up  scraps   of    history  from   the 
surrounding  plains  and  hillsides. 

But  to  discover  the  fairest  jewel  of  this 
region,  you  must  pass  through  Bulle  into 
the  valley  of  Gruy^re.  Over  there,  a  land 
and  castle  unmatched  in  Switzerland  beckon, 
and  await  your  admiration. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   LAND    AND   CASTLE   OF   GRUY]fcRE. 

TO  enter  the  verdant  valley  of  Gruyere, 
after  leaving  the  railroad  at  BuUe,  is 
like  turning  from  the  pages  of  a  modern 
newspaper  to  read  a  pastoral  of  Theocritus. 
The  name  Gruyere  is  applied  to  a  moun- 
tainous district,  lying  principally  in  tlie 
Canton  of  Fribourg,  and  traversed  by  the 
stream  of  the  Sarine,  from  the  glacier  of 
the  Sanetsch  to  Mount  Mol^son.  A  race 
of  herdsmen  live  there,  who  have  a  history 
all  their  own,  and  speak  a  Romance  lan- 
guage of  great  antiquity.  If,  at  the  present 
time,  this  land  of  rich  pastures  is  known 
the  world  over  only  for  the  excellent  cheese 
which  it  produces,  in  the  past  it  was  chiefly 
remarkable  for  the  fact  that  the  Counts  of 
Gruy^res*  there  maintained  a  sort  of  minia- 

*  The  name  of  the  family  and  town  is  spelled  with 
a  final  "  s." 


172  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

ture  feudal  court.  In  other  words,  Gruy^re 
tells  an  ancient  tale  of  chivalry  and  a 
modern  one  of  cheese. 

For  the  better  part  of  five  centuries,  the 
counts  ruled  over  their  subjects  in  a  man- 
ner which  was  at  once  patriarchal  and 
pastoral.  Indeed,  so  full  are  local  tradi- 
tions of  their  mutual  gayeties,  that  the 
student  is  tempted  to  think  of  ancient 
Gruyere  as  a  veritable  Dresden-china  state. 
It  seems  as  though  the  swains  from  the 
mountains  must  have  been  forever  dancing 
with  their  shepherdesses,  short-skirted  and 
with  streaming  ribbons,  while  in  their  midst 
the  ruling  count,  himself  the  most  assiduous 
gallant  of  them  all,  led  the  country  dances. 
Of  course,  in  such  a  community,  where 
mirth  was  the  main  business  of  life,  tlie 
peasants  would  only  reluctantly  drive  theii 
cattle  afield  between  whiles  for  a  living. 
And  of  course  all  this  is  romantic  rubbish, 
which  will  not  stand  the  test  of  real  inquiry. 

It  was  an  autumn  day  of  more  than 
ordinary  beauty,  when  I  emerged  from  the 
prosaic  little  town  of  Bulle,  to  follow  the 
highway  which  leads  up  the  valley.     A  few 


LAND   AND   CASTLE    OF   GRUYfeRE.      1 73 

steps,  and  then  the  castle  of  Gruyeres,  with 
the  cluster  of  houses  which  bear  that  name, 
hove  in  sight,  perched  crown-like  upon  a 
hill  in  the  middle  distance.  The  white  of 
these  buildings  was  admirably  sketched 
against  the  varying  greens  of  the  farther 
mountains.  An  atmosphere  of  softening 
haze  played  upon  their  outlines,  and  lent 
the  whole  group  the  aspect  of  some  old-time 
painting,  so  foreign  to  our  modern  world 
was  it,  and  so  perfect  a  bit  of  unconscious 
^rt. 

I  climbed  to  the  town  by  the  same  ancient 
path  which  the  counts  used  in  their  day, 
and  passed  through  a  rude  gate  into  the 
single  street  which  the  town  possesses.  A 
group  of  peasants  stood  near  the  pump. 
I  turned  a  corner,  where  a  crude,  ghastly 
crucifix  stared  me  in  the  face,  and  was  soon 
admitted  into  the  castle  court. 

The  castle  of  Gruyeres  is  perhaps  the 
most  carefully  restored  specimen  of  feudal 
architecture  which  Switzerland  possesses, 
and  is  hardly  surpassed  by  Chillon  itself 
for  the  beauty  of  its  situation.  In  1848, 
the  castle,  having  ceased  to  be  of  use  to 
the  cantonal    authorities,    was   offered   for 


174  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

sale,  in  a  state  of  complete  dilapidation, 
and  purchased  by  a  Genevese  gentleman, 
M.  Francois  Bovy.  The  brother  of  the 
owner,  M.  Daniel  Bovy,  an  artist  who  had 
studied  under  Ingres  in  Paris,  devoted 
many  years  of  his  life  and  his  entire  for- 
tune to  the  preservation  and  restoration  of 
the  property.  In  1862,  the  castle  passed 
into  the  hands  of  M.  Balland,  a  wealthy 
manufacturer  of  watches  in  Geneva,  and 
himself  an  enthusiastic  connoisseur.  The 
latter  continued  the  work  so  conscientiously 
begun  by  his  predecessor,  until  to-day  he 
has  succeeded  in  transforming  his  sum- 
mer home  into  a  real  repository  of  local, 
mediaeval  art. 

In  the  castle  court,  the  breath  of  feudal- 
ism fills  the  air;  and  when  you  mount  the 
broad,  winding  stairs  under  massive  arches, 
and  suddenly  find  yourself  standing  in  a 
Hall  of  Knights,  the  illusion  is  perfect.  On 
the  walls  of  this  room,  Daniel  Bovy  painted 
twelve  frescos,  representing  various  scenes 
in  the  history  of  Gruyere,  some  purely 
legendary,  and  others  strictly  historical. 
The  whole  forms  a  veritable  illustrated 
text-book.     Although  the  touch  of  positive 


LAND    AND   CASTLE   OF    GRUYERE.      I75 

genius  is  not  present,  still  the  work  is  in 
every  way  admirable,  —  especially  in  an  age 
like  ours,  which  has  allowed  mural  paint- 
ing to  fall  into  undeserved  disuse.  The 
walls  of  this  hall  are  of  an  extraordinary 
thickness,  and  give  the  windows  corre- 
spondingly deep  embrasures,  from  which 
delightful  glimpses  may  be  caught  of  the 
narrowing  valley  and  its  higher  mountains. 
They  will  next  show  you  the  so-called 
Chamber  of  the  Count,  with  its  Gothic  bed 
and  ancient  tapestries,  the  Chamber  of  the 
Countess,  and  also  that  of  the  fair  Luce 
des  Albergeux,  mistress  of  Count  John  II., 
known  far  and  wide  for  her  great  beauty. 
The  pieces  of  furniture  in  these  rooms,  and 
in  others  throughout  the  castle,  are  either 
genuine  pieces  of  mediaeval  work,  found  in 
the  castle  and  collected  in  the  immediate 
vicinity,  or  else  they  are  clever  imitations 
made  by  a  local  cabinet-maker,  whose 
workmanship  as  nearly  as  possible  resem- 
bles that  of  his  predecessors  at  Gruy6res. 
It  appears  that  M.  Balland,  with  praise- 
worthy conscientiousness,  has  preferred  to 
enlist  the  services  of  local  workmen  in  his 
restorations,  in  order  to  preserve  the  essen- 


176  ROMANCE   S\VITZP:RLAND. 

tially  rustic  character  of  his  castle,  even  if 
the  result  be  less  polished,  and  at  times  a 
little  crude.  He  has  fitted  up  the  former 
torture-chamber  of  the  tower  into  an  inter- 
esting little  armory,  where  some  trophies, 
won  by  the  counts,  hang,  side  by  side  with 
ancient  weapons  found  in  the  neighborhood. 
On  the  ground-floor  there  is  a  kitchen,  with 
a  fireplace  of  colossal  proportions,  in  which 
the  traditional  whole  ox  was  roasted  on 
festive  occasions. 

It  is,  perhaps,  remarkable  that  this 
castle  of  (Jruyeres,  representing,  as  it 
does,  the  ideal  of  a  purely  Alpine  feudal 
dwelling,  and  set  apart  to  contain  as  com- 
plete as  possible  a  collection  of  local  me- 
di;eval  art,  should  at  the  same  time  pos- 
sess anything  so  modern  as  a  superb  set  of 
panels  by  Frcncli  mast:;rs  of  our  time.  M. 
Daniel  Bovy,  it  aj  pjars,  was  in  the  halMt 
of  inviting  artist  fiicnds  of  his  student-days 
in  Paris  to  visit  him  in  his  feudal  retreat. 
Many  of  them  contributed  towards  the 
work  of  beautifying  the  castle  by  painting 
the  panels  of  the  little  drawing-room. 
There  it  is  that  Corot  has  left  three  oval 
pieces,  —  two  simple  groups  of  trees  in  his 


LAND   AND   CASTLE   OF    GKUVEKi:.      1 77 

unmistakable  style,  and  a  little  imaginary 
view  of  Gruyeres,  which  to-day  are  almost 
as  valuable  as  the  castle  itself.  Other 
panels  are  by  such  men  as  Baron,  Franqais, 
Leleux,  Menn,  and  Salzmann ;  and  the 
whole  forms  a  picture  gallery  which  it 
would  be  difficult  to  equal  elsewhere,  and 
perhaps  impossible  to  duplicate. 

Taken  all  in  all,  the  record  of  the  family 
of  Gruyeres  is  exceptionally  picturesque, 
and  not  particularly  discreditable,  as  feudal 
families  go.  Their  race  was  full  of 
knightly  virtues  and  follies:  warlike,  but 
generous  to  the  Church,  perpetually  in- 
volved in  adventures  which  were  consid- 
ered amusing  in  their  age,  but  would  now, 
of  course,  bring  them  into  divorce  courts. 
The  counts  were,  after  all,  beloved  by  the 
simple  peasants  through  all  their  escapades. 
Certainly  they  dwelt  among  their  subjects 
in  a  manner  which  was  almost  democratic. 

The  first  documentary  mention  of  the 
country  dates  from  923,  when  a  certain 
Count  Turimbert,  of  the  county  of  Ogo, 
is  recorded  in  a  deed  of  transfer.  At  that 
time,  the  land  of  Gruyere  formed  part  of 
12 


lyS  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  kingdom  of  Upper  Burgundy.  Ogo 
seems  to  be  a  Romance  corruption  of  the 
German  Hochgau,  and  has  survived  in  a 
slightly  modified  form  in  the  name  of 
Chateaux  d'Oex.  Gruyere  is  not  derived 
from  the  word  j,'f!(^,  a  crane,  as  mediaeval 
legend-makers  were  wont  to  assert,  but 
from  the  title  of  Gruyer,  meaning  one  who 
has  a  right  to  the  use  of  forests. 

On  more  than  one  occasion,  the  warlike 
counts  stepped  forth  from  their  mountain 
castle  to  take  part  in  the  world's  history. 
Several  of  them  went  off  to  the  Crusades. 
A  Knight  John  of  Gruy^res,  brother  to  the 
ruling  count  of  his  day,  served  under 
Edward  III.  of  England  and  the  Black 
Prince  in  the  French  Wars.  Then  there 
was  Count  Louis,  who  distinguished  him- 
self at  the  battle  of  Alorat,  fighting  as  an 
ally  of  the  Swiss  Confederates  against 
Charles,  the  Bold,  of  Burgundy. 

But  the  home  life  of  these  Alpine 
knights  possesses  a  charm  which  is  quite 
distinct  from  their  military  achievements. 
For  if  they  were  warlike  while  abroad,  in 
Gruyere  itself  they  settled  down  again  into 
jovial   domestic  ways,  and   devoted  them- 


LAND   AND    CASTLE    OF    GRUVfeRE.      1 79 

selves  to  the  difficult  task  of  keeping  their 
estates  intact  from  the  encroachments  of 
their  powerful  neighbors,  the  free  cities  of 
Bern  and  Fribourg. 

It  was  Count  Peter  V.  who  kept  a  court 
fool,  Girard  Chalamala  by  name,  a  local 
character  whose  exploits  form  the  subject 
of  many  traditions.  A  house  of  peculiar 
appearance  stands  on  the  village  street, 
near  the  entrance  to  the  castle.  The 
fac^ade  is  decorated  with  grotesque  figures, 
and  a  gargoyle  of  more  than  usual  hide- 
ousness  projects  from  the  roof.  This 
dwelling  is  known  as  the  house  of  Chala- 
mala. M.  Victor  Tissot,  the  author  of  that 
charming  work,  "  Unknown  Switzerland," 
in  which  one  of  the  best  chapters  is 
devoted  to  Gruyere,  bought  the  place  in 
order  to  preserve  it  intact  as  an  historical 
curiosity. 

Chalamala,  it  is  said,  instituted  a  Court 
of  Folly.  All  the  gossip  and  scandal  of 
the  castle  were  completely  ventilated  at  its 
sittings,  and  judgment  was  passed  upon 
the  delinquents  who  were  so  unfortunate 
as  to  be  found  out  in  their  intrigues.  All 
the  details  of  carnival,  of  the  sieges  of  the 


ISO  ROMAXCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Castle  of  Love,  and  all  the  mad  freaks  and 
practical  jokes  in  which  Chalamala  de- 
lighted, were  arranged  by  the  Court  of 
Folly.  The  count  was  allowed  to  attend, 
but  without  his  spurs,  because  on  one 
occasion  he  had  kicked  the  impertinent 
fool  for  some  more  than  ordinarily  personal 
pleasantry.  When  the  wine  came  on  the 
table,  Chalamala  was  wont  to  make  liis 
appearance  also.  He  would  entertain  the 
guests  with  his  sallies,  and  with  improvised 
verses  on  the  exploits  of  bygone  Counts  of 
Gruveres.  Even  in  his  last  will  and  testa- 
ment, tliis  incorrigible  jester  could  not 
refrain  from  perpetrating  a  joke,  for,  with 
delightful  irony,  he  left  the  count  his  mask, 
his  bonnet,  his  staff,  and  —  his  debts.  A 
copy  of  this  will  hangs  framed  in  one  of 
the  halls  of   the  castle. 

Not  to  dwell  too  long  on  the  history  of 
the  famil}-  of  Gruyeres,  let  us  turn  briefly 
to  the  final  catastrophe,  which  drove  Mi- 
chael, the  last  of  the  counts,  from  the  home 
of  his  ancestors.  He  passed  for  one  of 
the  handsomest  knights  of  his  day.  An 
ancient  couplet  in  the  local  patois  describes 
him  thus  :  — 


LAND   AND   CASTLE   OF   GRUVERE.      iSl 

"  Ve  la,   Michel,  li  preux,  li  beaux: 
Fleur  de  tous  aulters  damoiseaux." 

After  a  youth  spent  at  the  court  of  Francis 
I.,  of  France,  in  the  capacity  of  a  page,  he 
entered  upon  a  career  of  adventure  and 
folly,  which  finally  made  him  bankrupt.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  the  sum  of  his 
own  debts,  and  of  those  which  he  had 
inherited,  represented  a  total  of  no  less 
than  1,500.000  francs  in  modern  money. 
At  one  time  he  appealed  to  his  subjects, 
and  certain  districts  of  Gruyere  agreed  to 
stand  as  security  for  a  large  sum.  But 
nothing  availed  to  check  his  ruin,  not  even 
his  marriage  to  a  wealthy  widow  of  the 
nobility  of  Savoy,  who  devoted  her  whole 
fortune  to  his  cause.  In  1553,  a  board  of 
arbitration,  appointed  to  settle  the  diffi- 
culties between  himself  and  his  creditors, 
awarded  his  estates  to  Bern  and  Fribourg, 
the  principal  claimants,  and  then  decreed 
his  banishment.  His  subjects  were  ordered 
to  transfer  their  allegiance  to  their  new 
citizen-masters,  which  they  did  after  a 
fashion,  with  many  lamentations  over  the 
fall  of  their  ancient  counts.  Michael  died 
in  1576;  and  the  last  piece  of  news  concern- 


l82  ROMAXCE    SWITZERLAND. 

ing  him,  which  has  come  down  to  us,  is  that 
a  creditor  was  still  pursuing  him.  It  was 
a  lamentable  ending,  but  one  typical  of 
many  another  noble  house  in  Switzerland, 
where  the  rising  tide  of  democracy  brooked 
no  feudal  barriers  in  its  path. 

The  modern  population  of  Gruyere  has 
discarded  the  picturesque  costume  of  older 
days,  along  with  other  traces  of  a  past 
which,  however  charming  it  may  seem  in 
the  retrospect,  must  have  had  its  own 
peculiar  evil  aspects.  But  in  point  of 
popular  character,  very  little  change  seems 
to  have  taken  place. 

If  there  is  anything  of  which  this  pas- 
toral people  have  never  ceased  to  be  fond, 
even  to  excess,  it  is  dancing.  There  used 
to  be  a  native  dance  called  the  coratilc, 
which  was  probably  related  to  a  similar 
one  in  Provence,  both  names  being  evi- 
dently derived  from  the  Greek  x°P^^- 
inuring  the  rule  of  Count  Antoine,  a  coraulc 
is  said  to  have  started  one  Sunday  evening, 
on  the  castle  terrace,  with  seven  people, 
and,  winding  up  the  valley,  to  have  gath- 
ered participants  at   every  hamlet,  until  it 


LAND   AND    CASTLE    OF    CRUV^KE.      183 

finished  Tuesday  morning  with  seven  hun- 
dred, at  Saanen.  It  is  this  incident  which 
the  poet  Uhland  has  celebrated  in  his 
short  poem  entitled  "  Der  Graf  von 
Greyers." 

On  the  day  of  my  visit  to  Gruyere,  a 
local  fete  chanced  to  be  in  full  swing,  —  one 
of  those  numerous,  open-air  jollitications 
which  the  people  call  bentchoiis.  There 
was  a  gathering  of  enthusiastic  dancers 
from  all  the  country-side.  Every  inn  which 
respected  itself  had  erected  a  platform, 
where  heavy-footed  couples  revolved  with 
that  deep  solemnity  which  characterizes 
rustic  dancers  the  world  over.  A  few 
musicians,  purple  in  the  face  and  with 
much  show  of  exertion,  were  extracting 
well-meant,  but  somewhat  trying,  music 
from  their  instruments.  At  the  close  of 
every  dance,  there  would  be  a  rush  to  the 
inn  for  a  glass  of  wine.  The  loud  shouts 
of  laughter,  which  proceeded  from  within, 
proclaimed  that  these  modern  herdsmen 
and  their  sweethearts  were  as  appreciative 
of  a  practical  joke,  as  their  ancestors,  the 
contemporaries  of  Chalamala,  that  prince 
of  fools. 


l84  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

A  certain  gay  raillery,  a  good-natured 
satire,  also  pervades  the  literature  of  Gruy- 
fere.  It  is  refreshing  to  meet  anything  so 
naively  artistic  as  that  classic  of  the  coun- 
try, the  Ranz  des  Vaches,  amid  the  some- 
what barren  fields  of  Swiss  belles-lettres. 
It  has  the  local  flavor,  and  savors  of  the 
soil  which  produced  it,  without  being  de- 
void of  delicate  touches.  One  does  not 
know  what  to  admire  most  in  this  rustic 
masterpiece,  the  pure,  pastoral  quality  of 
the  music,  so  sombre  yet  spontaneous,  the 
gentle  irony  of  some  of  the  couplets,  or 
the  rhythm  of  the  refrains. 

The  Ranz  des  Vaches  may  be  trans- 
lated as  the  "  March  of  the  Cows,"  and 
refers  to  the  annual  migration  of  the  cattle 
in  spring  from  the  valleys  to  the  summer 
pastures  on  the  mountains.  Many  parts  of 
German  Switzerland  have  such  Kuhreiheti 
of  their  own,  notably  Appenzell,  but  the 
version  current  in  Gruy^re  has  become 
more  widely  known  than  any  other.  It  is 
too  long  to  reproduce  here  entirely,  consist- 
ing, as  it  does,  of  nineteen  couplets  with 
two  recurring  refrains.  But  the  first  coup- 
let, in  the  original  patois,  and  in  the  French 


LAND    AND   CA.SILE    OF    GRUY^RE.      1^5 

translation,  with  the  two  refrains,  will 
suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  spirit  of  the 
thing:  — 

I.  Les-j-armailli *  di  Colombett6t 
D6  bon  matin  she  shon  leva 

Ah  !  ha  !  ah  !  ha  ! 
Liauba  !  t  liauba  !  poraria. 

I.  Les  vachers  des  Colombettes 
De  bon  matin  se  sont  lev6s. 

Ah  !  ha  !  ah  !  ha  ! 
Vaches  !  vaches  I  pour(vous)trairc. 

F:rst  Refrain. 

V^enez  toutes. 

Blanches  et  noires, 

Rouges  et  ^toilees, 

Jeunes  et  autres; 

Sous  un  chene, 

Ou  je  vous  trais; 

Sous  un  tremble, 

Ou  je  fais  caillcr  (le  lait). 

Second  Refrain. 

Celles  qui  portent  une  sonnaille 
Vont  les  premieres, 
Les  toutes  noires 
Vont  les  dernieres. 

*  Herdsmen,    probably    derived    from    Latin   ar' 
vientarius. 
t  Name  of  pastures  at  the  foot  of  the  Mol^son. 
\  An  endearing  call  for  cows. 


1 86  ROMANXE   SWITZERLAND. 

The  couplets  go  on  to  relate  how  tlic 
herdsmen  and  their  cattle  are  stopped  by 
a  torrent,  how  they  take  counsel,  and 
Pierre  goes  to  knock  at  the  door  of  the 
cur^  to  ask  him  to  say  mass  for  them. 
The  cure  says  that  they  must  make  him 
a  cheese,  if  they  wish  to  cross,  "but  you 
must  not  skim  the  cream  from  it,"  he  adds, 
warningly.  Pierre  suggests  that  the  cur6 
send  his  maid-servant  for  the  cheese,  but 
the  churchman  has  his  doubts.  "  My  maid 
is  too  pretty;  you  might  perchance  keep 
her.''  Pierre  keeps  up  this  bantering  strain 
by  rejoining  that  he  need  not  fear,  they 
would  have  to  confess  to  him,  if  they  did 
kiss  her  too  much,  and  with  a  sly  thrust 
at  ecclesiastical  failings,  finally  urges,  '-for 
taking  of  the  goods  of  the  Church,  we 
should  never  be  forgiven."  With  that,  the 
cur6  yields,  bids  Pierre  Godspeed,  and 
promises  to  say  an  Ave  IMaria.  After 
that,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  crossing,  and 
the  herd  gives  twice  as  much  milk  as  usual 
that  day. 

The  melody  which  accompanies  these 
words  is  very  ancient,  and  was  originally 
played  on  a  shepherd's  pipe   or   hautbois. 


LAND   AND    CASTLE    OF   GKUYERE.      1 87 

Indeed,    its    pronouncedly  pastoral  quality 
almost  demands  a  wood  instrument. 

One  lingers  regretfully  upon  the  castle 
terrace,  when  the  time  for  departure  has 
come.  The  gray  Sarine  curls  plainwards 
to  Bulle,  where  a  massive  tower  rises  above 
the  red  roofs  ;  on  the  right  are  the  jagged 
Dents  de  Broc;  on  the  left,  the  Moleson, 
which  the  guide-books  like  to  call  the  Kigi 
of  Western  Switzerland;  and  from  the 
valley  at  one's  feet,  comes,  ever  and  anon, 
the  hap-hazard  jingling  of  cow-bells,  mingled 
with  tlie  cry  of  some  attendant  ar»iaill!^  or 
the  barking  of  farm  dogs. 

As  I  turned  logo,  the  merry-makers  were 
still  dancing  to  the  tune  of  the  village  band, 
down  there  at  the  little  inn  on  the  corner, 
where  the  path  diverges  which  mounts  to 
the  castle.  It  was  all  very  modern,  per- 
haps, and  yet  the  air  seemed  full  of  some 
old-world  melody.  It  was  as  though  the 
shepherds  of  the  past,  up  there  on  the 
summer  pastures,  were  piping  an  ancient 
pastoral  to  their  beloved  land  Gruy^re. 


CHAPTER   XL 

IN    AND   OUT   THE   VALAIS. 

ALAND  of  contrasts,  indeed,  this 
Canton  Valais  !  One  end  dips  into 
the  arctics,  the  other  into  the  tropics. 
Beginning  in  a  glacier,  it  closes  in  a  sunny- 
lake.  Li  the  lower  part,  French  is  spoken, 
in  the  upper,  German,  and  in  the  lateral 
valleys,  a  diversity  of  Romance  dialects. 

Here,  luxurious  corners  full  of  gardens, 
orchards,  and  vineyards,  brilliant  with 
myrtle,  fig  and  almond  trees;  there, 
deserts  of  gravel  beds,  parched  and  glar- 
ing, or  marshy  wastes,  unwholesome  with 
fevers  and  stinging  gnats.  On  one  side, 
terraces  of  wheat  and  Indian  corn;  on  the 
other,  naked,  burning  rocks,  smitten  with 
a  curse.  Soft  shadows  under  festooned 
vines;  crude,  vivid  colors  upon  mountain 
pastures  and  pine  forests;    turquoise  skies 


IN    AND   OUT    THE    VALAIS.  1 89 

and  brazen  sunsets ;  in  the  valleys,  the 
music  of  the  Angelus ;  on  the  slopes,  the 
tinkling  from  many  tiocks  ;  in  the  heights, 
an  unchanging  silence.  A  land  alternately 
scorching  and  freezing,  smiling  and  scowl- 
ing, where  fine  old  races  live  in  the  side 
valleys,  while  the  villages  of  the  plain 
abound  in  cretins  and  goitrous  miseries. 

In  prehistoric  ages  a  monster  glacier 
dug  a  trench  from  the  inassif  of  the  St. 
Gothard  down  as  far  as  Lyons.  In  retreat- 
ing, it  left  the  river  Rhone,  the  lake  of 
Geneva,  some  stony  trails  of  moraines,  and 
erratic  blocks  sprinkled  about  on  the  moun- 
tain-sides. And  now  the  floor  of  the  trench 
seems  at  the  bottom  of  everything.  It  has 
become  pre-eminently  the  valley  of  Europe, 
for  two  of  the  loftiest  ranges  in  Europe 
overshadow  it  on  either  hand,  the  Bernese 
and  Pennine  groups.  Inundations  have 
played  awful  havoc  with  the  land  in  times 
past,  but  at  length,  after  twenty  years  of 
hard  toil,  the  Correction  du  Rhone  is  com- 
plete. The  river  and  its  affluents  have 
been  enclosed  in  dikes  and  breakwaters, 
the  fear  of  devastation  is  dispelled,  and  the 
waste  places  are  beginning  to  revive. 


190  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

It  is  very  characteristic  of  Switzerland,  — 
that  sudden  change  from  coquettish  little 
Montreux,  flaunting  its  charms  upon  lake- 
front  and  mountain-side,  to  poor  old  Ville- 
neuve,  gray  and  inhospitable,  with  the 
swampy  plain  of  the  Rhone  for  a  back- 
ground. 

Farther  up,  Aigle  lies  among  vineyards, 
which  produce  the  well-known  white  wine 
of  Vvorne.  There  is  a  large  chateau,  that 
once  served  as  residence  for  the  Bernese 
bailiils  who  governed  this  district,  until 
the  Pfelvetic  Revolution  sent  tliem  home 
to  mind  tlieir  own  business.  But  Aigle 
is  pre-eminently  a  starting-place.  It  is 
the  gate  to  many  a  delightful  summer 
resort, —  Ormonts-Dessus,  \"illars.  Chateau 
d'Oex,  etc. 

Bex,  the  next  station  up  the  Valais,  is  at 
its  best  in  spring  and  autumn,  for  the 
sun  shines  there  unremittingly,  ripening 
the  grapes  for  the  grape-cure,  of  which  it 
is  difficult  to  speak  without  smiling.  There 
are  curious  salt-works  near  by,  the  salt 
being  derived  partly  from  mines,  partly 
from  springs  by  evaporation. 

Opposite    Bex.  on   the   other  side  of  the 


IX    AND    OUT    THE    VALAIS.  I9I 

Rhone,  is  dingy  little  Monthey ;  and  back 
of  that  opens  one  of  the  very  sweetest  of 
the  Arcadian  side-valleys  of  Switzerland, 
the  Val  d'llliez. 

The  way  to  Champdry,  its  highest-lying 
village,  leads  up  from  the  cobbled  streets 
of  Monthey,  through  walled  vineyards,  to 
shady  chestnut  and  walnut  groves,  up  into 
the  region  of  cherry-trees,  meadows,  and 
summer  pastures.  The  Dent  du  Midi 
looms  on  the  left  all  along  tlie  road.  The 
villages  of  Troistorrents  and  Val  d'llliez 
are  prosperous-looking  places,  with  flowers 
at  the  windows,  and  patches  of  grain  on 
the  outskirts.  But  Champcry  is  the  favor- 
ite resort.  Here,  year  after  year,  English 
families  reappear,  to  occupy  the  same 
chalets,  with  their  beautiful  babies  and 
exemplary  nurses.  Some  go  so  far  as  to 
give  the  children  regular  lessons  every 
morning.  With  characteristic  imperturba- 
bility, they  barely  and  grudgingly  yield  to 
their  surroundings.  At  the  foot  of  the 
Dent  du  Midi,  they  try  to  live  the  life  of 
Margate  or  Scarborougli,  and,  what  is  more 
remarkable,  they  very  nearly  succeed. 


192  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

The  natives  of  the  Val  d'llliez  are  a 
surprise  after  the  people  of  the  plain. 
Such  a  high  average  of  good  looks  !  Stal- 
wart men  and  pretty  women  are  as  common 
there,  as  they  are  rare  in  the  Rhone  Valley. 
My  first  visit  to  Champdry  was  made  from 
Samoens,  in  Savoy,  by  the  Col  de  Coux. 
It  had  been  a  hot  walk,  with  a  knapsack 
on  my  back.  As  the  afternoon  waned,  and 
the  village  was  not  yet  in  sight,  I  called  to 
a  young  man  who  was  standing  by  the 
roadside,  with  his  back  turned  to  me : 
"  Monsieur,  will  you  please  tell  me  how 
much  farther  it  is  to  Champ^ry?"  At 
that  the  young  man  turned,  with  a  charm- 
ing smile  on  his  face,  —  for  he  was  a  young 
woman. 

The  joke  is,  it  is  not  always  easy  to  tell 
the  sexes  apart,  for  the  women  have  the 
common-sense  and  courage  to  wear  men's 
clothes  while  at  work  tending  the  cows. 
Is  it  this,  perhaps,  which  preserves  their 
figures,  and  keeps  their  cheeks  rosy,  long 
after  their  sisters  in  neighboring  valleys 
are  bent  and  faded.''  The  trousers  and 
jackets  of  black  homespun  are  like  those 
of    the    men ;     so    are    the    big    hobnailed 


IN   AND   OUT   THE   VALAIS.  I93 

shoes.  In  fact,  the  only  concession  to  femi- 
ninity is  a  brilHant  scarlet  handkerchief, 
wound  round  the  head  in  an  altogether 
bewitching  manner.  Unfortunately,  Cham- 
pdry  is  becoming  such  a  fashionable  tourist 
tramping-ground  that  the  women  are  get- 
ting a  little  shy,  and  no  longer  go  about  as 
freely  as  they  used  to  do  during  the  season. 
More  's  the  pity !  for  they  teach  a  much- 
needed  lesson  in  dress  reform.  This  cos- 
tume is  also  particularly  convenient,  when 
the  women  ride  up  to  the  Alps  on  their 
ponies,  to  milk  the  cows.  Besides,  their 
woman's  dress  is  a  rather  ungainly  and 
far-fetched  affair,  like  most  of  the  Valaisan 
costumes. 

At  St.  Maurice,  the  Rhone  Valley  sud- 
denly contracts,  so  that  there  is  only  room 
for  the  river  and  the  carriage-road ;  the 
railroad  has  to  pass  through  a  tunnel.  The 
Romans,  of  course,  with  their  unfailing 
keenness  in  military  matters,  immediately 
recognized  the  strategic  value  of  this  point. 
In  fact,  it  is  the  natural  key  to  the  Valais. 
On  the  Roman  charts,  it  appears  as  Tar- 
naias ;  but  later  the  name  of  Agaunum 
13 


194  ROMANXE    SWITZEKLAXD. 

began  to  be  used,  and  finally  that  of  St. 
Maurice. 

Maximianus,  Emperor  of  the  West,  it 
will  be  remembered,  made  a  speciality  of 
persecuting  Christians;  and  some  time 
between  280  and  300  A.  d.,  he  seems  to 
have  distinguished  himself  by  an  act  of 
more  than  usual  barbarity.  There  was  a 
legion  passing  through  Agaunum,  on  the 
way  to  Italy,  which  had  been  recruited 
from  Thel:)es  in  Egypt,  and  was  com- 
manded by  an  officer,  Maurice.  The  men 
were  all  Christians,  therefore  they  refused 
to  help  Maximianus  in  his  work  of  exter- 
mination. In  return,  the  emperor  had  them 
surrounded  by  other  troops,  and  massacred 
to  a  man.  Hence  the  name  St.  Maurice. 
As  a  Roman  legion  of  that  day  numbered 
about  six  thousand  men,  some  doubt  has 
been  expressed  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the 
tradition.  Almost  as  much  ink  has  tlowed 
in  this  controversy,  as  blood  could  possibly 
have  been  spilt  in  the  massacre. 

Certain  it  is,  that  Christianity  was  al- 
ready firmly  established  in  the  Lower 
\'alais  during  the  fourth  century,  for  in 
381  there  is  mention  of  a  Bishop  Theodor, 


IN    AND   OUT   THE   VALAIS.  I95 

or  Theodul,  of  Martigny.  This  prelate 
founded  an  abbey  in  memory  of  the 
martyrs,  probably  the  first  in  point  of  time, 
north  of  the  Alps.  It  was  richly  endowed 
by  Sigismond,  king  of  the  first  kingdom 
of  Burgundy,  and  by  Charlemagne  him- 
self. Here  a  Margrave,  Rudolf,  in  888, 
crowned  himself  King  of  Transjurane 
Burgundy.  At  all  times,  too,  the  abbey 
was  a  great  resort  for  pilgrims  on  their 
way  over  the  Great  St.  Bernard. 

St.  Maurice,  the  town,  is  sad  and 
shabby,  with  a  sort  of  gray  blight  upon  it. 
A  bridge  and  castle  command  the  valley. 
The  only  part  of  the  ancient  abbey  which 
remains  is  a  massive  square  tower,  capped 
■  by  a  small  octagonal  pyramid,  with  four 
cones  at  the  corners,  and  several  tiers  of 
rude  Romanesque  windows  up  the  sides. 
Some  Roman  inscriptions  have  been  placed 
in  the  walls.  The  otlier  buildings  are  of 
much  more  recent  date.  The  Augustinian 
moqJNS  will  also  show  you,  for  a  handsome 
consideration,  what  is  left  of  the  treasury 
of  the  abbey,  some  exceedingly  valuable 
works  of  art,  which  attest  the  great  wealth 
of  the  old  institution. 


196  ROMA^'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

On  the  way  to  Alartigny  are  two  natural 
features,  which  the  guide-books  take  care 
to  point  out,  —  the  waterfall  of  Pissevache 
and  the  Gorges  du  Trient. 

Vernayaz  is  the  starting-place  for  Cha- 
monix,  by  way  of  Salvan  and  Finhaut.  A 
road  that  seems  to  be  uncertain,  whether  it 
was  built  for  carriages  or  pedestrians  only, 
rises  in  many  zigzags  up  the  face  of  a 
shady  cliff,  where  glorious  chestnut-treos 
have  somehow  found  a  foothold.  Salvan 
has  already  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  recog- 
nized summer  resort,  and  Finhaut  is  now 
coming  into  favor  for  its  delicious  air. 

Indeed,  there  is  something  unique  about 
the  scenery  along  this  route,  — the  broken 
vistas  and  unexpected  turns,  the  gorges, 
the  uneven  floor  of  the  valley,  where  the 
Trient  rumbles  almost  unseen,  the  radiant 
slopes,  and  the  enclosing  peaks.  But 
agricultural  land  is  poor,  and  there  is  very 
little  of  it.  Only  a  few  sparse  plots  of 
grain  gleam  golden  among  t!i<;  rorks :  in 
fact,  the  most  valuable  crop  is  the  small 
wild  cherrv,  ripening  late  in  August,  from 
which  kirscli  is  made,  that  eminently 
Swiss   cordial      Unlike   the  inhabitants  of 


PISSFA'ACHE    WAIKRFAI.L. 


IN   AND    OUT    THE    VALAIS.  I97 

the  Val  d'llliez,  who  are  but  a  few  miles 
away,  the  people  of  Finhaut  take  life  very 
hard ;  they  lack  expansiveness,  and  are 
still  a  little  distrustful  of  travellers.  Natu- 
rally, therefore,  the  local  type  is  not  good- 
looking.  The  women  seem  worn  with 
carrying  loads,  and  lose  color  before  their 
time.  Still,  tlierc  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  art  of  entertaining  tourists  cannot 
be  cultivated  in  Finhaut  ;  and  so  the  sordid 
struggle  will  doubtless  soon  be  lightened 
by  tidy  little  sums,  left  there  annually  in 
the  pockets  of  land-owners,  hotel-keepers, 
and  attendants. 

Near  Martigny,  the  Rhone  Valley  makes 
an  unexpected  turn  at  right  angles,  widen- 
ing at  the  same  time  into  a  dreary,  monoto- 
nous plain.  As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  a 
white  road,  planted  with  poplars,  stretches 
in  an  unwavering  line,  side  by  side  with  an 
equally  straight  railroad  track.  One  is  glad 
to  escape  again  into  the  mountains,  whether 
it  be  in  company  with  long  files  of  car- 
riages, going  to  Chamonix  by  the  Tcte 
Noire,  or  on  the  less-frequented  route  of 
the   Great    St.    Bernard.     Those   who   are 


198  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

unfortunate  enough  to  spend  the  night  in 
Martigny,  are  likely  to  be  inveigled  into 
buying  tickets  for  an  organ-concert  in  the 
church.  These  performances  would  be 
pathetic,  if  it  were  not  for  the  franc  which 
j-ou  have  paid.  As  though  this  infliction 
were  not  enough,  however,  creaking  carts 
pass  under  your  windows  all  night,  the 
drivers  cracking  their  whips,  and  shouting 
like  fiends,  —  going  to  market,  somewhere, 
I  suppose. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  impressiveness 
and  solemnity  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard 
Pass.  It  is  not  as  beautiful  as  at  least  a 
dozen  other  well-known  Alpine  crossings; 
it  has  even  a  terrible  sameness  and  an 
unflinching  dulness.  But  this  very  grim- 
ness  appalls  and  fascinates.  Besides,  one 
feels  the  presence  of  historic  ground.  Tlie 
Great  St.  Bernard  was  the  chosen  route  for 
many  a  Celtic  invasion  of  Italy;  Roman 
legions  crossed  it  to  subdue  Gaul  and 
Germany;  and  missionaries  passed  there, 
carrying  primitive  Christianity  with  them. 
During  the  tenth  century,  it  was  the  haunt 
of  Saracen  robbers,  who   plundered  cara- 


IN    AND   OUT   THE   VALAIS.  199 

vans  of  merchants,  and  held  high  church 
dignitaries  for  ransom.  Throughout  the 
Middle  Ages,  German  emperors  used  the 
pass  repeatedly.  From  the  15th  to  the 
2ist  of  May,  1800,  it  witnessed  the  famous 
passage  of  Napoleon  I.,  on  his  way  to 
Marengo.  At  present,  the  St.  Gothard 
Railroad  diverts  most  of  the  travel  from 
the  St.  Bernard  Pass,  —  a  state  of  things 
which  will  certainly  not  improve  when  the 
Simplon  Tunnel  is  made. 

The  approach  from  Martigny  is  so  long 
and  uneventful,  that  one  does  not  realize 
the  height  to  which  one  is  climbing,  until 
Bourg-St, -Pierre  is  passed,  and  the  bridle- 
path is  reached  at  the  Cantine  de  Proz. 
But  thence  to  the  top,  the  unmistakable 
Alpine  signs  abound,  to  right  and  left. 
The  air  grows  keen;  the  mountain-sides 
are  bare  and  lonesome,  for  the  tree-line  has 
been  passed;  some  snow-patches  lie  in  the 
hollows.  Then,  just  as  the  perplexing 
windings  of  the  path  have  driven  you  to 
despair,  the  hospice  looms  through  the 
mist. 

One  of  the  brethren  welcomes  stran- 
gers with  a  sweet  courtesy  which  comes  as 


200  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

a  complete  surprise,  after  the  obsequious 
insolence  of  hotel  porters.  One  feels  at 
liome  immediately.  The  good  brother 
listens  to  tlie  oft-repeated  tale  of  cold  and 
fatigue,  with  a  face  full  of  sympathy,  as 
t'lougii  he  was  hearing  it  for  the  first  time. 
Tlie  rooms  are  apt  to  be  chilly,  of  course, 
in  a  climate  tJiat  corresponds  to  the  Soutli 
Cape  of  Spitsbergen  on  the  sea-lcvel :  but 
the  table-cVliolc  dinner  in  the  dining-room 
is  all  that  can  be  desired.  The  room  is 
furnished  with  presents  from  grateful 
gucsts.  And  then  the  delight  of  eating 
without  counting  the  cost,  or  bothering 
alx)ut  fees!  One  cheerfully  drops  a  gen- 
erous piece  into  the  alms-box  in  the  church 
before  leaving,  although,  if  the  truth  must 
be  told,  only  about  one  thousand  out  of 
sixteen  to  twenty  thousand  annual  visitors 
pay  for  tlicmselves,  the  rest  being  poor 
wayfarers  in  search  of  work. 

Sonii  sort  of  a  monastery  and  hospice 
existed  on  tlie  pass  as  early  as  the  ninth 
century;  but  the  first  authentic  mention  of 
the  foundation  made  l)y  St.  Bernard  of 
Menthon  dates  from  1125.  At  present, 
from  ten  to  fifteen  monks  and  seven  atten- 


IN    AXD    OUT   THE   VALAIS.  20I 

dants  are  stationed  on  the  St.  Bernard, 
while  others  of  the  brotherhood  serve  at 
the  hospice  on  the  Simplon.  After  aljout 
fifteen  j-ears  of  this  life,  the}-  descend,  with 
broken  health,  to  an  asylum  at  Alartigny. 
In  fact,  the  hospice  of  the  Great  St.  Ber- 
nard is  the  highest  winter  habitation  in  the 
Alps,  next  to  the  fourth  Cantoniera  on  the 
Stelvio  Pass,  in  the  Tyrol.  There  are  two 
buildings,  weather-beaten,  stone-and-mortar 
structures,  that  seem  to  be  part  of  the  bare 
rock  and  snow  of  the  region.  The  black 
lake,  which  fills  the  hollow  on  one  side,  sug- 
gested to  Dumas  "a  picture  in  miniature  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  lying  at  the  feet  of  Jerusalem 
in  ruins."'  On  a  platform  by  this  lake,  the 
Romans  once  had  a  temple  to  Jupiter 
Pceninus,  where  travellers  stopped  to  ex- 
press their  gratitude  to  the  god,  or  leave 
him  presents  and  votive  tablets.  Tlie  little 
museum  of  the  hospice  contains  a  great 
many  Roman  finds.  It  was  from  thds 
shrine  that  the  mountain  took  the  name 
of  Mons  Jovis.  and  is  even  now  called, 
locally,  Mont  Joux. 

It    takes   a   very    well-ordered    stomach, 
indeed,  to  stand  the  horrors  of    the  little 


202  ROMAN'CE    S'lVITZF.RLANn. 

morgue,  where  the  bodies  of  travellers 
who  have  been  found  by  the  dogs  are 
kept  for  identification.  The  place  is  a  rec- 
tangular outhouse.  You  look  through 
a  window,  and  see  a  few  bodies  ranged 
against  the  walls,  dressed  just  as  they 
were  found,  and  cramped  in  their  deatli- 
struggle.  In  that  altitude,  the  bodies  do 
not  decompose,  but  dry  up  and  crumble, 
bit  by  bit.  There  they  lean,  in  all  sorts 
of  attitudes,  in  all  stages  of  decay,— 
black,  hollow-eyed,  and  horrible,  sinking 
to  the  ground  in  grotesque  helplessness, 
pathetic  and  repulsive. 

With  what  relief  one  turns  to  the  dog- 
kennels  !  As  the  keeper  opens  the  door  to 
let  the  beauties  out,  the  first  sensation  is 
one  of  surprise.  The  St.  Bernard  dogs  we 
usually  see  in  the  valleys  are  huge,  curly- 
iiaired  animals,  solemn,  and  somewhat 
slouchy  in  their  movements,  displaying  a 
tendency  to  lie  down  at  tlie  slightest  provo- 
cation. l'>nt  the  dogs  at  the  hospice  are 
short-haired  and  stout-limbed,  like  mastiffs, 
with  large  heads  and  sensitive,  quivering 
nostrils.  They  seem  to  be  strung  on  wires, 
as   they  rush   about,  sniffing  the   air   excit- 


IN    AND    OUT    THE   VALAIS.  203 

edly,  and  anxious  to  distinguish  them- 
selves. They  represent  the  most  perfect 
combination  of  strength  and  agihty  imag- 
inable. The  original  stock,  which  is  said 
to  have  come  from  the  Spanish  Pyrenees, 
is  now  extinct. 

In  former  days,  there  was  a  good  deal 
more  for  them  to  do,  before  the  hospice 
was  connected  by  teleplionc  witli  Martigny 
and  Aosta.  Travellers  can  now  inquire 
about  the  state  of  the  weather  and  the 
paths  before  they  start,  or,  at  all  events, 
warn  the  brothers  of  their  coming.  It 
looks  very  much  as  though  the  traditional 
dog  of  the  picture-books,  with  a  flask  of 
brandy  tied  to  his  neck,  would  lose  his 
occupation  soon. 

Sion  is  the  capital  of  Canton  Valais,  an 
interesting-looking  town  of  over  five  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  half  feudal  and  half 
rustic,  rising  from  the  burning  plain  of 
the  Rhone  in  a  curious  medley  of  bleached 
houses  and  ancient  walls.  The  surround- 
ing castles  of  Tourbillon,  Valeria,  and  Ma- 
joria  heighten  its  appearance  of  a  fortress. 
The  place  is  at  its  best  during  vintage  time. 


204  ROMAN'CE    SWITZKRI.A  ND. 

An  old  mansion  of  the  Supersaxo  family  is 
spoken  of  as  containing  objects  of  interest ; 
and  the  torrent  of  the  Sionne,  which  flows 
down  the  principal  street  of  the  town 
in  a  channel  covered  with  wooden  beams, 
acts  as  a  reminder  of  the  mountains.  On 
one  side,  the  passes  of  the  Sanetsch  and 
the  Rawyl  lead  over  to  the  Simmenthal 
and  the  Bernese  Oberland ;  on  the  other, 
open  the  interesting  valleys  of  Hdrens  and 
Hdrdmence,  whose  primitive,  patriarchal 
inhabitants  have  been  so  well  described  by 
M.  Victor  Tissot  in  "  La  Suisse  Inconnue." 
Sierre  is  another  typical  Valaisan  town, 
clinging  to  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  in 
tlie  broiling  sun.  A  certain  air  of  medie- 
val dilapidation  lends  an  added  charm. 
At  one  side  of  the  town  is  a  special  quar- 
ter, like  a  separate  hamlet,  consisting  of 
low,  unfinished  houses,  built  helter-skelter, 
and  unoccupied  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
year.  At  stated  times,  the  mountaineers 
of  the  Val  d'Anniviers,  who  own  the  best 
vineyards  of  the  district,  descend  en  ?nasse 
to  cultivate  them  in  common,  each  family 
sending  one  representative.  The  hamlet 
then    becomes    suddenly    peopled    with    a 


IX   AND   OUT    THE    VALAIS.  205 

hard-working  race,  in  sober  costume.  In 
the  morning,  men  and  women  assemble  at 
the  sound  of  drum  and  fife,  and  march 
to  the  common  vineyard,  with  music  and 
flags.  Prayers  are  recited  before  the  labor 
begins ;  and  in  the  evening,  the  same  pro- 
cession files  back  to  the  rickety  houses. 

From  the  uninviting  little  borough  town 
of  Loeche,  or  Leuk,  a  fine  road  mounts  in 
great  v.indings  by  Inden  to  Leuker-Bad 
and  the  Gemmi  Pass.  The  baths  have 
passed  throu'rh  many  vicissitudes.  They 
were  known  to  the  Romans,  of  course,  who 
ferreted  out  hot  springs  wherever  they 
were  to  be  had.  During  the  "thousand 
years  without  a  bath,"  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
they  must  have  fallen  into  oblivion.  It 
was  reserved  for  the  most  widely  known 
personage  the  \^ahiis  has  ever  produced, 
to  revive  the  prestige  of  Leuker-Bad. 

Cardinal  Mathew  Sciiinner,  Count-Bishop 
of  Sion,  was  born  in  the  miserable  hamlet 
of  Miillibach,  just  above  Fiesch,  in  the 
Upper  Valais.  His  boyhood  was  spent  in 
great  poverty,  and  in  a  brave  struggle  to 
educate    himself    for    the    Church.      Con- 


2o6  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

spicuous  talents  of  administration,  backed 
by  energy  and  ambition,  marked  his  eccle- 
siastical career.  An  uncle  of  his  became 
Bishop  of  Sion,  and  abdicated  in  his 
favor. 

Pope  Julius  II.  was  just  then  trying  to 
rid  Italy  of  the  French,  and  turned  to  the 
Swiss  to  help  him.  Schinner  became  his 
agent  in  raising  the  necessary  mercenary 
troops.  He  preached  a  veritable  crusade 
against  the  French  throughout  the  Confed- 
eration, persuading  thousands  of  Swiss  to 
cross  the  Alps  repeatedly  in  defence  of 
papal  interests.  For  these  services,  he 
was  created  Cardinal,  —  an  honor  never 
before  conferred  upon  a  native  of  Swiss  soil, 
and  only  once  since,  in  the  case  of  the  late 
Cardinal  Mermeillod.  Under  the  stimulus 
of  Schinner's  exhortations,  the  Swiss  drove 
the  French  out  of  Italy,  after  the  battle  of 
Novara;  but  the  prelate  finally  tricked  them 
into  a  bloody  defeat  at  Marignano,  whence 
they  withdrew  after  frightful  slaughter,  dis- 
gusted with  their  foreign  adventures. 

It  was  in  1501  that  Schinner  erected 
some  buildings  at  Leuker-Bad,  but  they 
were   unfortunately    destroyed   by  an  ava- 


IX    AND   OUT   THE   VALAIS.  207 

lanche  soon  after,  as  were  also  others  in 
1719.  When  the  mule-track  ov^er  the  Gemmi 
Pass  was  hewn  out  of  the  face  of  the  cliff, 
in  1736-41,  the  place  rose  in  importance. 

At  the  present  time,  Leuker-Bad  is  not  in 
favor  with  the  great  bathing  public.  The 
bath-houses  wear  a  dejected  air;  there  is 
no  gay  gossip  in  the  square,  where  the 
fountain  runs;  booths,  with  mountain- 
crystals  and  wood-carvings,  no  longer  line 
the  grass-grown  promenade ;  no  fashion- 
able flirtations  and  nightly  dances  enliven 
the  hotels  that  stand  about,  far  too  num- 
erous to  lodge  infrequent  guests.  The 
pathos  of  unpopularity  broods  over  the 
whole  place.  For  some  reason  or  other, 
the  rich  foreigners  who  used  to  spend 
their  seasons  there,  some  twenty  years 
ago,  have  abandoned  it  to  transient  tour- 
ists and  poorer  invalids. 

The  water  from  the  hot  spring  is  led  into 
bath-houses,  situated  in  different  parts  of 
the  village.  The  cure  consists  of  a  tre- 
mendous soaking,  spread  over  twenty-seven 
days.  You  begin  by  bathing  for,  say,  half 
an  hour,  and  increase  the  time,  until  you 
spend  four  or  five  hours  a  day  in  the  water. 


208  ROMANCE   SWITZERl. AND. 

If  all  works  well,  a  rash  ought  to  break  out 
after  the  first  week,  and  disappear  before 
the  third.  When  one  adds  the  nap  of  an 
hour,  which  is  obligatory  after  every  bath, 
there  remains  comparatively  little  time  for 
outdoor  amusements. 

That  is  probably  the  reason  why  the  bath 
is  made  as  attractive  as  pos.sible  by  an 
artless  system  of  batliing  in  common.  The 
guests  sit  about  in  a  large  tank,  with  the 
water  up  to  their  shoulders,  -ladies  and 
gentlemen,  boys  and  girls,  clad  in  long 
flannel  gowns.  Little  crescent-shaped 
tables  float  about,  upon  which  you  can 
take  your  breakfast  of  coffee  and  rolls,  or 
play  checkers  and  dominos.  A  gallery  runs 
along  the  principal  bath  ;  and  every  visitor 
w'.io  conies  in  to  see  the  bathers,  is  hailed 
witli  shouts  of  ^^ pour  les  pmtvres,''''  while 
a  basket,  fastened  to  a  stick,  is  held  out  to 
him.  Woe  to  the  tourist  who  does  not,  or 
pretends  not,  to  understand!  He  will  be 
fairly  hooted  out  of  the  place;  and  then 
some  of  the  bathers,  by  long  practice,  are 
able  to  squirt  water  from  their  hands  with 
deadly  precision.  It  is  an  art  the  boys 
learn    from   each    other  with    phenomenal 


IN   AXD   OUT   THE   VALAIS.  209 

quickness.  Altogether,  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  fun  going  on,  and  the  best  of  man 
ners  prevail  at  all  times. 

One  of  the  sights  of  the  neighborhood 
are  the  eight  ladders  that  lead  up  to  the 
village  of  Albinen.  The  natives  climb 
up  and  down  unconcernedly,  trained  from 
earliest  youth.  The  women,  in  using  the 
ladders,  take  the  hem  of  their  skirts  at  tlie 
back,  and,  passing  it  between  the  legs, 
fasten  it  in  front,  so  as  to  extemporize  a 
sort  of  divided  skirt. 

From  near  Leuk,  up  to  the  Rhone  Gla- 
cier, German  is  spoken,  —  a  harsh-sounding 
dialect,  which  all  the  other  German  Swiss 
pretend  is  more  rude  and  primitive  than 
theirs.  Wliat  poverty  and  misery!  The 
goitre  on  the  necks  of  men  and  women  is 
so  common  that  its  absence  occasions 
remark.  The  villages  seem  thrown  down, 
as  it  were,  by  the  handful,  their  houses 
crowded  and  low,  unwholesome,  unventi- 
lated,  and  undrained  ;  the  country  alternat- 
ing between  stony  tracts,  fresh  meadows, 
vineyards,  and  pine  forests.  Here  and 
there,  a  strong  tower  recalls  days  of  feudal 
14 


2IO  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

oppression.  Only  the  glimpses  up  the 
side-valleys  remain,  ever  more  alluring  as 
you  progress. 

Visp  is  the  gate  to  an  enchanted  garden 
of  the  Alps,  perhaps  the  very  noblest  and 
most  inspiring  spot  in  Switzerland.  It 
seems  almost  incredible  that  Zermatt  had 
to  be  practically  rediscovered  for  modern 
tourists,  although  the  Th^odule  Pass  was 
undoubtedly  used  in  Roman  times.  In 
1789,  De  Saussure  paid  the  first  recorded 
visit  of  a  traveller,  the  details  of  which 
have  reached  us.  His  reception  by  tlie 
astonished  inhabitants  was  anything  but 
pleasant.  A  few  years  later,  an  English 
party  visited  Zermatt,  and  as  this  century 
advanced,  an  increasing  number  of  bota- 
nists, naturalists,  and  geologists  made  it  a 
happy  hunting-ground.  Such  men  as  Sir 
John  Herschel,  Agassi z,  Desor,  the  two 
Forbes,  Tyndall,  and  Ruskin  were  among 
early  visitors.  One  by  one,  the  giant  peaks 
were  scaled  until,  in  1865,  Mr.  Whymper 
capped  the  climax  by  his  daring  ascent  of 
the   Matterhorn. 

The  first  travellprs  took   shelter  with  the 


IN   AND    OUT   THE   VALAIS.  211 

parish  priest,  Pfarrer  Gottsponer ;  but,  in 
1839,  D''-  Lauber,  the  village  doctor,  built 
an  inn,  which  was  later  bought  by  M. 
Alexandre  Seller,  and  called  the  Hotel  de 
Monte  Rosa. 

Tlie  Rev.  W.  A.  B.  Coolidge,  who  has 
made  some  remarkable  studies  in  the  by- 
ways of  Swiss  history,  finds  that  Zermatt 
is  mentioned  in  documents  dated  as  early 
as  1280,  and  thinks  the  settlement  must 
doubtless  be  much  older.  The  inhabitants 
were  originally  probably  united  in  a  free 
Mark,  but  ultimately  fell  into  feudal  depend- 
ence upon  certain  powerful  families  in  the 
Rhone  Valley. 

Brig  gives  one  a  last  glimpse  of  the  pecu- 
liar Oriental  quality  of  the  Valais,  —  a  dusty, 
glaring,  white-walled  town,  where  the  rail- 
road ends,  and  the  great  Simplon  carriage- 
road  begins.  Farther  up,  the  country  loses 
whatever  southern  characteristics  it  pos- 
sessed, and  becomes  frankly  Alpine,  Teu- 
tonic, monotonous.  Dirty,  huddled  villages 
succeed  each  other,  after  long  stretches  of 
open  pasture.  The  houses  of  pine  or 
larch   wood,   tanned   brown    on    the   sunny 


212  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

quarter,  are  topped  by  enormous  roofs;  gar- 
dens become  rarer;  and  ghastly  wooden 
crucifixes  stand  by  the  wayside,  in  all  their 
terrible  crudities  of  blood  and  wounds, 
painted  scarlet.  The  landscape  grows 
greener,  darker,  more  subdued  and  restful. 
The  valley  narrows,  and  the  road  mounts 
in  weary  zigzags  to  great  natural  terraces; 
wliile  the  Rhone  ceases  to  be  a  river,  and 
becomes  a  boisterous,  boiling  torrent.  A 
keener  air  blows  down  the  sides,  bringing 
a  smell  of  forests,  shrubs,  and  wild-flowers. 
At  every  corner  you  expect  the  end  of  this 
wayward  valley;  its  sombre  persistency 
fatigues  and  depresses.  One  longs  for  a 
halting-place;  so  that  it  is  generally  in  a 
mood  of  utter  weariness  that  the  hubbub 
of  the  Gletsch  Hotel  is  first  heard,  and  the 
glistening  spires  of  the  Rhone  Glacier  are 
sighted. 

During  the  short  summer  season,  a  cease- 
less stream  of  tourists  passes  this  point 
from  the  Grimsel,  the  Furka,  or  the  Rhone 
Valley  Xo  one  stays  there  except  to 
take  a  meal,  or  at  most  a  night's  lodging. 
There  is  a  greedy  scramble  to  secure  places 
at  the  table  d'hote,  in  the  diligence,  in  the 


IN   AND    OUT    THE    V'ALAIS.  213 

very  barber's  chair.  It  is  a  grumbling, 
bargaining  mess  of  nationalities,  competing 
for  drivers  and  guides.  Carriages  of  all 
models  are  there,  from  the  comical  little 
Einspdnner  to  the  great  Italian  travelling- 
carriages,  with  four  horses,  having  foxes' 
tails  dangling  from  their  bridles  at  the  side 
of  the  head.  The  lumbering  yellow  dili- 
gence is  another  variety. 

And  all  the  while  the  glorious  glacier 
beyond  the  hotel  stands  unmindful,  like  a 
cataract  frozen  in  the  act  of  being  tossed 
and  swirled  a])out.  Its  pointed  waves  have 
crystallized  into  pyramids  and  columns, 
wliili,  in  between,  a  chaos  of  crevasses 
vavvii.  with  iridescent  blues  and  greens. 
.\ftcr  the  glacier  in  its  fall  seems  to  have 
been  broken  into  hopeless  disarray,  it 
reaches  the  level,  consolidates,  and  pushes 
out  over  a  desert  waste  of  rocks,  sand,  and 
mud.  At  the  end,  from  an  ice  cavern  that 
changes  form  every  year,  the  glacier  lets 
slip  the  tumbling  torrent  of  the  Rhone,  to 
overrun  Switzerland  and  France. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

STORMING   THE   MATTERHORN. 

'"pHE  glory  of  first  ascents  has  departed 
A  from  Switzerland.  The  golden  age 
of  Alpine  climbing  is  no  more.  Explorers 
have  left  for  other  highlands,  farther  from 
the  beaten  track.  The  Tyrol  came  first, 
then  the  Dauphine,  the  Carpathians,  the 
Caucasus,  the  Himalayas,  the  Andes,  and 
the  snow  mountains  of  New  Zealand.  Not 
long  ago,  Kilimanjaro,  the  great  snow 
mountain  of  Africa,  was  ascended.  The 
wave  of  pioneer  climbing  has  passed  over 
Switzerland,  onward,  to  conquer  the  world. 
After  Mont  Blanc,  all  the  other  great 
peaks  were  ascended,  one  by  one,  —  in  i8i  i, 
the  Jungfrau  ;  in  1812,  the  Finsteraarhorn. 
Then  came  the  scientific  investigations  of 
Agassiz,  Guyot,  and  Desor,  of  Forbes  and 
Tyndall.  IMonte  Rosa  was  conquered  in 
1851.     From    1854  on,  a  great   number  of 


STORMING   THE    MATTERHORX.       21 5 

Englishmen  entered  heart  and  soul  into  the 
work  of  exploring  the  glaciers  and  peaks, 
—  men  like  Hudson,  Kennedy,  Hardy, 
Wills,  Whymper,  MacDonald,  Ball,  and 
others.  It  was  the  era  of  exploration,  the 
heyday  of  famous  guides,  —  like  Johann 
Benen,  Melchior  Anderegg,  and  Michel 
Croz.  The  Alpine  Club  was  founded  in 
1857;  and  the  work  of  describing  the  Alps 
was  planned  out  and  pushed  forward  with 
such  vigor,  that  to-day  hardly  a  nook  or 
cranny  remains  unexplored. 

During  that  time,  many  remarkable 
ascents  were  made.  The  late  Professor 
Tyndall,  among  other  exploits,  managed  to 
be  the  first  to  reach  the  top  of  the  Weiss- 
horn.  On  one  occasion,  this  intrepid  scien- 
tist climbed  Monte  Rosa  absolutely  alone, 
in  his  shirt-sleeves,  with  one  ham  sandwich 
and  a  pint  bottle  of  tea.  At  another  time, 
he  risked  his  life  in  treacherous  weather  in 
order  to  place  a  minimum  thermometer 
upon  the  summit  of  Mont  Blanc.  For  many 
years,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  spending  his 
summers  upon  the  Belalp,  near  the  Eggis- 
horn,  in  a  cottage  of  his  own,  whence  he 
could    easily   explore   the   marvels   of    the 


2l6  ROMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

great  Aletsch  Glacier,  the  lake  of  Merjelen 
with  its  miniature  icebergs,  as  well  as  the 
monster  mountains  of  the  Bernese  group. 

But  perhaps  the  most  thrilling  of  the 
many  first  ascents  made  at  this  time  was 
that  of  the  Matterhorn  (14,705  feet)  by 
Mr.  Edward  Whymper,  in  1865.  In  his 
delightful  book,  entitled  "  Scrambles  among 
the  Alps  in  the  Years  1860-69,"  this 
dauntless  climber  gives  us  a  graphic  ac- 
count of  his  extraordinary  feat  and  its  sad 
culmination. 

The  Matterhorn  looms  above  Zermatt 
like  a  monument,  —  like  something  between 
a  pyramid  and  an  obelisk,  with  sides  of 
precipitous  cliffs.  Before  Mr.  Whymper's 
ascent,  it  was  considered  the  most  thor- 
oughly inaccessible  of  all  mountains.  In 
fact,  it  was  the  last  of  the  great  peaks  to 
remain  unsealed;  and  the  natives  had, 
as  usual,  a  stock  of  gruesome  legends  to 
relate.  Several  years  in  succession,  Mr. 
Whymper  went  out  from  England  to  ex 
plore  its  cliffs,  and  experiment  with  appli 
ances  for  surmounting  its  difficulties.  He 
was  obliged  to  record  seven  failures  before 
he  succeeded. 


STORMING  THE  MATTERHORN.   21 7 

One  of  these  attempts  came  very  near 
ending  fatally.  He  was  entirely  alone 
upon  the  mountain,  and  at  a  great  height, 
when,  in  turning  a  difficult  corner,  he 
slipped,  and  fell  back,  head  over  heels, 
down  a  steep  snow-slope.  Incredible  as  it 
may  seem,  he  was  not  killed  by  this  fall.  A 
kindly  ledge  stopped  him  just  in  time  ;  and 
so  he  was  able  to  make  his  way  down  unin- 
jured, though  decidedly  the  worse  for  wear. 

It  was  on  the  13th  of  July,  1865,  on  a 
perfectly  cloudless  day,  that  a  party  started 
from  Zermatt  on  this  perilous  expedition. 
Besides  Mr.  Whymper  himself,  there  was 
the  Rev.  Charles  Hudson,  considered  one 
of  the  best  amateur  climbers  of  his  day ;  a 
young  friend  of  his,  named  Hadow,  who, 
though  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  had  just 
been  to  the  top  of  Mont  Blanc  ;  and  Lord 
Francis  Douglas,  of  about  the  same  age, 
just  fresh  from  his  ascent  of  the  difficult 
Ober  Gabelhorn.  These  gentlemen  were 
accompanied  by  three  guides,  —  .Michel 
Croz,  of  Chamonix,  Peter  Taugwalder,  and 
the  latter's  son.  It  is  necessary  to  specify 
their  names  carefully  in  order  to  understand 
the  party's  tragic  descent. 


2l8  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

The  night  was  spent  in  an  improvised 
camp  at  an  altitude  of  about  eleven  thou- 
sand feet.  Before  dawn,  the  party  resumed 
its  progress.  At  an  altitude  of  about  four- 
teen thousand  feet,  the  most  difficult  part  of 
the  ascent  began.  The  climbers  had  to 
make  their  way  up  the  face  of  a  steep, 
sloping  cliff,  partly  covered  with  snow  and 
ice  films.  But  this  dangerous  part  was, 
happily,  surmounted;  and  at  i  40  p.m.,  Air. 
Whymper  and  the  guide  Croz  simulta- 
neously reached  the  virgin  summit.  Then 
came  the  descent,  which  was  to  end  so 
fatally. 

The  party  were  roped  together  in  the 
following  order:  the  guide,  Michel  Croz, 
led  ;  then  followed  young  Hadow  ;  and  after 
them  Hudson,  Lord  Douglas,  Peter  Taug- 
walder  the  elder,  Mr.  Whymper,  and,  last, 
Peter  Taugwalder  the  younger.  As  they 
were  descending  the  dangerous  icy  cliffs 
referred  to  above,  a  slip  was  made  which 
resulted  in  one  of  the  most  terrible  accidents 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  moi'ntaineering. 
Mr.  Whymper,  who  was  one  of  the  sur- 
vivors, relates  :  — 

"  Michel  Croz  had  laid  aside  hi**  axe.  and, 


STORMING   THE    MATTERHORN.        219 

in  order  to  give  Mr.  Hadow  greater  secur- 
ity, was  absolutely  taking  hold  of  his  legs 
and  putting  his  feet  one  by  one  into  their 
proper  positions.  As  far  as  I  know,  no  one 
was  actually  descending.  I  cannot  speak 
with  certainty,  because  the  two  leading 
men  were  partially  hidden  from  my  sight 
by  an  intervening  mass  of  rock ;  but  it  is 
my  belief,  from  the  movements  of  their 
shoulders,  that  Croz,  having  done  as  I 
have  said,  was  in  the  act  of  turning  round 
to  go  down  a  step  or  two  himself.  At  this 
moment,  Mr.  Hadow  slipped,  fell  against 
him,  and  knocked  him  over.  I  heard  one 
startled  exclamation  from  Croz,  then  saw 
him  and  Mr.  Hadow  flying  downwards; 
in  another  moment,  Hudson  was  dragged 
from  his  steps,  and  Lord  F.  Douglas  imme- 
diately after  him.  All  this  was  the  work 
of  a  moment.  Immediately  I  heard  Croz's 
exclamation,  old  Peter  and  I  planted  our- 
selves as  firmly  as  the  rock  would  permit. 
The  rope  was  taut  between  us,  and  the  jerk 
came  on  us  both  as  on  one  man.  We  held ; 
but  the  rope  broke  midway  between  Taug- 
walder  and  Lord  Francis  Douglas.  For  a 
few  seconds  we  saw  our  unfortunate  com- 


220  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

panions  sliding  downwards  on  their  backs, 
and  spreading  out  their  hands  endeavoring 
to  save  themselves.  They  passed  from  our 
sight  uninjured,  disappeared  one  by  one, 
and  fell  from  precipice  to  precipice  on  to 
the  Matterhorn-gletscher  below,  —  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  four  thousand  feet  in 
height.  From  the  moment  the  rope 
broke,  it  was  impossible  to  help  them."* 

The  three  survivors  clung  for  half  an 
hour  to  their  perilous  post  on  the  cliff, 
unable  to  move  up  or  down,  the  two 
guides  completely  unnerved,  and  breaking 
out  every  moment  into  loud  lamentations. 
Then  they  made  their  way  down,  as  best 
they  could,  looking  in  vain  for  traces  of 
their  lost  comrades.  To  add  to  their  terror, 
when  they  were  farther  down,  a  very  rare 
phenomenon  of  the  Alps  suddenly  loomed 
upon  them.  A  mighty  arch  appeared 
against  the  sky,  and  gradually  two  vast 
crosses  developed  within  it.  The  guides, 
appalled  by  this  unearthly  apparition, 
thought  it  had  some  connection  with  the 
accident.     The  survivors  were  obliged  to 

*  Scrambles  among  the  Alps  in  the  Years  1860-69. 
London.     1S71.     p.  396. 


STORMING   THE    MATTERHORN.       221 

spend  another  miserable  night  upon  the 
mountain  before,  shattered  and  exhausted, 
they  could  descend  to  Zermatt. 

The  bodies  of  the  fallen  were  discovered 
lying  in  the  order  in  which  they  had  started 
from  above,  but  that  of  Lord  Douglas  was 
never  recovered,  —  a  few  articles  of  his 
clothing  only  were  found. 

Such  was  the  tragic  first  ascent  of  the 
Matterhorn.  The  mountain  is  now  fre- 
quently ascended,  even  by  ladies.  The 
rocks  have  been  blasted  at  the  most  diffi- 
cult points,  and  ropes  attached  to  steady 
the  climbers ;  but  the  sudden  changes  of 
weather,  to  which  the  Matterhorn  seems 
to  be  particularly  exposed,  still  render  it, 
to  a  certain  extent,  a  dangerous  mountain. 

Switzerland  has  now  become  the  "  Play- 
ground of  Europe."  Of  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  visit  it  every  summer, 
thousands  swarm  over  its  passes  and  sum- 
mits in  frantic  emulation.  Some  enthu- 
siasts choose  the  winter  for  their  ascents, 
and  others  wander  for  weeks  at  a  time 
from  chain  to  chain,  without  descending 
below  the  snow-line.  There  are  those  who 
profess  to  find  pleasure  only  in    climbing 


222  ROMANXE    SWITZERLAND. 

rocks.  The  Jungfrau  is  voted  tame  and 
dull,  because  there  is  too  much  snow  upon 
it.  The  great  thing  is  to  discover  some 
new  route,  more  perpendicular  than  the 
others,  to  pass  over  the  Alps  across- 
country,  as  it  were,  taking  as  little  account 
as  possible  of  natural  obstacles.  In  fact, 
the  passion  for  Alpme  climbing  has  now 
reached  a  point  undreamed  of  by  the 
pioneer  climbers.  It  has  entered  upon 
a  new  and,  in  some  respects,  a  ridiculous 
period. 

No  wonder  that  "  Tartarin  sur  les  Alpes" 
was  written,  or  that  Bompard  should  say 
to  the  hero  from  Tarascon :  — 

" '  Switzerland  at  the  present  day,  Mr. 
Tartarin,  is  nothing  but  a  vast  Kursaal, 
open  from  June  to  September,  a  panoramic 
Casino,  where  people  meet  from  the  four 
quarters  of  the  globe  to  amuse  themselves. 
It  is  managed  by  an  enormously  rich 
company,  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
millions,  having  offices  in  Geneva  and 
London.  ...  At  the  same  time,  the  Com- 
pany, in  view  of  the  patronage  of  its 
English  and  American  climbers,  keeps 
up  the  dangerous  and  terrible  appearance 


STORMING   THE    MATTEKHORX.       223 

of  certain  famous  Alps,  the  Jungfrau,  the 
Monk,  and  the  Finsteraarhorn,  although, 
in  reality,  there  is  no  more  danger  there 
than  elsewhere.' 

"  '  But  still,  the  crevasses,  my  good  friend, 
those  horrible  crevasses!  ...  If  you  fall 
into  them ! ' 

"'You  fall  on  the  snow,  Mr.  Tartarin, 
and  you  do  not  hurt  yourself;  there  is 
always  below,  at  the  bottom,  a  porter 
or  a  hunter,  —  some  one  who  picks  you  up, 
brushes  you  off,  shakes  you,  and  politely 
asks  if  Monsieur  has  any  baggage.'  .  .  . 

'"What  nonsense  are  you  telling  me?'" 

But  Bompard  continued,  with  redoubled 
gravity:  "The  keeping  in  repair  of  these 
crevasses  entails  one  of  its  largest  outlays 
upon  the  Company." 

As  an  antidote  to  the  sad  catastrophe 
on  the  Matterhorn,  you  cannot  do  better 
than  read  Tartarin's  ludicrous  ascent  of 
the  Jungfrau.  His  refusal  to  take  any 
precautions,  his  serenity  after  falling  into 
a  crevasse,  his  complete  confidence  that 
the  whole  excursion  was  a  joke,  and  the 
guides  were  accomplices,  —  all  this  is  quite 
inimitable. 


224  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Happily,  mountaineering,  even  in  Swit- 
zerland, has  not  come  to  such  a  pass. 
There  was  some  virtue  in  knight-errantry, 
even  when  Cervantes  killed  it  with  satire  ; 
and  there  is  plenty  of  exhilaration  left  in 
mountain-climbing,  plenty  of  splendid  ex- 
ercise. Steady  eyes  and  nerves,  self-control 
and  self-sacrifice,  are  still  needed.  Only 
it  is  a  little  discouraging  to  adventure, 
this  orderly  systematizing  of  climbing  by 
means  of  club  huts,  and  guides  with  diplo- 
mas. As  for  the  encroachment  of  rail- 
roads upon  the  snow-line,  it  must  cause 
the  surviving  pioneers  to  speak  under 
their  breath,  the  more  the  hotel-keepers 
laugh  in  their  sleeve. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

LOCARNO   AND   LUGANO. 

HOW  immediate  and  impressive  is  the 
change  when  you  pass  out  of  the  St. 
Gothard  Tunnel,  going  south  !  After  the 
cold,  crystalline  atmosphere  of  the  north, 
its  rigid  firs  and  slopes  of  glowing  green, 
its  wooden  chalets  and  general  air  of  Teu- 
tonic neatness,  you  emerge  into  a  land  of 
warm  colors.  Luxuriant  walnut  and  chest- 
nut trees  cover  the  hillsides,  vines  are  fes- 
tooned from  granite  posts,  and  the  stone 
houses  are  streaked  in  impossible  tints 
with  sham,  painted  windows.  There  is  an 
air  of  slap-dash  about  the  villages,  from 
their  tumble-down  roofs  of  tiles  to  their 
brilliant  Lombard  campanili,  open  at  the 
top,  where  bells  are  always  ringing.  It  is 
a  transition  from  Alpine  exhilaration  to 
Italian  leisure. 

IS 


226  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

When  the  train  has  performed  its  last 
wonderful  windings,  and  dropped  down 
into  the  Val  Leventina,  it  follows  the 
hurrying  Ticino,  past  Giornico,  into  the 
lovely  region  of  the  Riviera.  But  just 
before  you  get  your  first  view  of  Lago 
Maggiore,  the  fortress  of  ]3ellinzona  bars 
the  way.  It  forms  a  monster  barricade 
against  tl-e  south. 

Bellinzona  bears  a  certain  resemblance 
to  Sion,  in  tlieValais;  both  are  cantonal 
capitals,  and  strategic  points  of  first  im- 
portance. But  Nature  has  not  been  as 
kind  to  Bellinzona.  Its  surroundings  wear 
an  arid,  desert  look,  unwholesome  and 
unhappy;  the  mountains  are  bare  and 
monotonous  ;  the  plain  looks  dusty  and 
blighted,  as  tliough  swept  by  fierce  winds. 
There  is  an  unkindly  glare  about  the  place. 
The  people  seem  ill  at  ease,  suffering  from 
some  local  type  of  wretchedness.  Even 
the  brand-new  railroad  station  and  the 
white  expanse  of  barracks  cannot  atone  for 
this  absence  of  geniality. 

And  yet  where  will  you  find  anything 
more  fantastical  than  those  three  castles 
of  Uri,  Schwiz,  and    Unterwalden  i-     They 


LOCARNO.  227 

command  the  valley,  and  are  joined  to- 
gether by  terraced  walls  and  bastions,  that 
run  in  and  out  among  the  modern  houses 
in  a  most  unaccountable  fashion.  The 
fact  is,  that  these  strongholds  tell  the 
history  of  the  Itahan  Swiss  people, — 
rather  a  humiliating  one,  until  the  French 
Revolution  set  them  free.  From  belonging 
originally  to  the  Dukes  of  Milan,  the  Val 
Leventina  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rude 
mountaineers  of  the  Forest  Cantons,  in 
the  course  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
freemen  on  the  banks  of  Luzern,  wlio 
believed  in  self-government  for  themselves, 
but  not  for  others,  sent  bailiffs  to  rule  their 
new  provinces.  These  gentlemen  used  to 
buy  their  appointments  at  auction,  treating 
them  as  investments,  for  what  they  could 
make  out  of  them,  in  the  way  of  taxes  and 
private  exactions.  It  is  generally  believed 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Val  Leventina  did 
not  appreciate  their  ignorant  and  brutal 
rulers  from  across  the  Alps,  who  bullied 
them  in  a  harsh  northern  dialect,  and  grew 
rich  at  their  expense.  It  is  even  suspected 
that  they  thought  just  as  highly  of  their 
old    Milanese   masters,  who,  at   all   events, 


228  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

oppressed  them  in  Italian.  Perhaps  that 
is  the  reason  why  the  hateful  Teutonic 
names  are  no  longer  used  in  connection 
with  residences  of  the  bailiffs.  The  cas- 
tles of  Schwiz  and  Unterwalden,  now  in 
ruins,  are  called  Castelli  di  Mezzo  and  di 
Corbario  ;  that  of  Uri,  used  as  prison  and 
arsenal,  Castello  Grande. 

Beyond  Bellinzona  lies  the  enchanted 
region  of  the  Italian  Lakes,  midway  be- 
tween the  rugged  glories  of  the  Alps  and 
the  languid  fertility  of  the  plain  of  Lom- 
bardy ;  full  of  bland  and  balmy  surprises, 
of  soothing  magic,  enticing  and  seductive. 
You  have  the  choice  of  entering  this  dis- 
trict by  way  of  Locarno,  on  Lago  Mag- 
giore,  or  by  Lugano  and  its  lake. 

Locarno  has  not  so  far  proved  a  success 
as  a  tourist  resort,  and  so  the  people  have 
not  yet  made  a  business  of  cultivating  the 
little  smirks  and  deceptions  that  follow  in 
the  wake  of  the  Frefudenindustrie.  Of 
course,  there  is  the  magnificent  Grand 
Hotel,  with  gardens  and  five-franc  dinners  ; 
but  people  say  that  it  has  proved  an  un- 
lucky speculation. 


LOCARNO.  229 

That  which  is  best  worth  seeing  in 
Locarno,  its  precious  jewel  and  heirloom, 
is,  without  doubt,  the  pilgrimage  chapel 
of  the  Madonna  del  Sasso  (of  the  Rock). 
It  is  perched  above  the  town  upon  a  cliff, 
projecting  between  two  ravines,  posed  as 
for  a  painter.  The  architectural  lines  sug- 
gest a  delightful,  hap-hazard  mixture,  from 
the  high  substructures  like  parapets,  to  the 
loggia  and  the  foolish  little  tower.  The  col- 
oring is  a  rich  yellow,  with  here  and  there 
bits  of  red  or  blue  frescoing,  and  the  red 
brown  of  the  tiles  on  the  roof. 

There  are  two  ways  to  the  top.  Unless 
one  is  going  to  pray  and  confess,  it  is  wise 
to  mount  by  the  easier  one,  a  cobbled  and 
shady  path,  and  to  reserve  the  steep,  sunny 
via  crucis  for  the  descent.  Unfortunately, 
the  pleasant  path  is  lined  with  horrible 
oratories,  containing  life-size  terra-cotta 
groups,  painted  vivid  and  ghastly.  One 
would  have  to  get  up  very  early  indeed  in 
the  morning,  to  escape  the  old  women  who 
pass  the  day  there.  They  have  a  way  of 
mumbling  feverishly  at  their  prayers  as 
you  approach,  and  then  suddenly  wheeling 
around  for  alms,  with  a  dexterity  that  is 


230  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

very  apt  to  make  you  give  something, 
before  you  can  stop  to  think.  The  chapel 
of  the  Madonna  was  dedicated  in  1606. 
There  is  an  old  sun-dial  on  the  wall,  and 
a  primitive  clock  with  only  one  hand. 
The  interior  is  a  mass  of  rough  and  vul- 
gar -ornamentation,  from  which  a  modern 
Entombment  by  Ciseri  stands  out  in  re- 
freshing contrast.  On  the  mountain-side 
above  the  chapel,  is  an  outlook  whence  the 
eye  can  range  over  the  roofs  of  Locarno 
to  the  delta  of  the  Ticino,  and  across  the 
lake  to  the  bare,  bronze-colored  mountains 
opposite. 

Travellers  usually  see  Locarno  in  spring 
or  autumn.  In  the  former  season,  the 
whole  country-side  is  pervaded  with  a 
delicious  perfumed  dampness ;  the  prim- 
roses line  the  embankments  and  wayside 
hedges  with  their  saffron  embroidery; 
periwinkles  nestle  in  cool  shelters ;  and  the 
oranges  and  lemons,  trained  against  the 
white  walls,  hang  ripe  for  plucking.  Peas- 
ants call  to  one  another  from  their  sloping 
fields  or  trellised  vineyards.  A  woman 
clinks  along  the  cobbled  ways  in  wooden 
sandals,  or  a  boy  sings  a  scrap  of  song,  while 


MADONNA    DKL    SAS30. 


LOCARNO.  231 

he  beats  his  donkey  on  the  highway.  As 
though  to  intensify  this  springtime  gladness, 
the  church-bells  ring  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation. It  is  all  so  Italian,  so  relaxing 
and  restful.  In  the  late  autumn,  a  certain 
exhilaration  sharpens  the  air,  producing  a 
phenomenal  clearness  of  atmosphere ;  the 
summer  greens  have  been  scorched  into 
rich  reds  and  yellows ;  impalpable  violets 
hover  in  the  shadows  of  the  mountains ;  and 
the  sky  dawns  day  after  day  pure,  serene, 
and  unchang-insf. 

Locarno  is,  at  best,  a  poor,  unprogressive 
place.  There  is  hardly  anything  worth 
seeing  in  the  town  itself,  unless  it  be  the 
remnants  of  a  tumble-down  castle,  almost 
crowded  out  of  sight  by  unwholesome-look- 
ing houses,  an  arcaded  street,  and  a  few 
gaudy  churches.  The  unfinished  bell- 
tower  of  St.  Victor  perhaps  has  sometliiii<^ 
about  it  that  is  fine.  But  for  a  sight  which 
is  really  romantica!l\-  gruesome,  commend 
me  to  the  Castcllo  di  Ferro  by  the  lakeside, 
just  out  of  town.  It  contains  all  the 
necessaries  for  an  old-fashioned  volume  on 
sentimental  villany.  There  are  grated 
windows,    gates    leading    into    an   interior 


232  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

court,  a  tower  with  a  gallery  running  round 
it,  and  next  door  a  tiny  antique  chapel, 
where  the  assassin  could  confess,  and  the 
lovers  get  married.  There  are  even  weep- 
ing willows  on  the  beach,  so  that  the 
unsuccessful  suitor  could  drown  himself 
in  proper  stage  setting.  In  point  of  fact, 
awful  stories  are  told  of  this  dingy  castle, 
for  the  benevolent  bailiffs  who  were  sent 
by  the  Swiss  Confederates  to  govern  this 
district,  used  it  for  some  of  their  most 
picturesque  crimes. 

Locarno  has  one  special  claim  to  recog- 
nition in  history.  When  the  Reformation 
threatened  to  disturb  its  papal  churchman- 
ship  with  new-fangled  ideas  about  the  Bible 
and  independent  congregations,  the  major- 
ity of  the  people  generously  determined  to 
make  a  great  sacrifice,  in  order  to  save 
their  native  town  from  heresy.  The  Protes- 
tant agitation  had  already  taken  quite  a 
hold  upon  the  place;  and,  as  luck  would 
have  it,  some  of  the  most  influential  and 
industrious  families  had  become  converts, 
—  like  the  Orelli  and  the  Muralto.  Sadly, 
but  firmly,  the  good  Catholics  set  to  work 
to   persecute   and   banish    everybody    who 


LOCARNO.  233 

would  not  conform  to  their  ritual,  until 
their  beloved  town  was  cleaned  of  every 
heretical  stain.  In  those  days,  Locarno 
used  to  possess  a  thriving  silk  industry  and 
some  five  thousand  inhabitants ;  after  the 
heroic  measures  of  the  Catholics,  the  silk 
industry  was  transferred  to  Zurich  by  the 
exiles,  and  the  population  sank  almost  to 
the  vanishing  point. 

The  excursions  around  Locarno  are  of 
all  kinds.  At  Ascona,  however,  there  is 
a  work  of  art  highly  praised  by  Rahn, 
Switzerland's  principal  art  critic.  It  is  the 
fac^ade  of  the  Casa  Borrani,  done  in  stucco 
by  Giovanni  Serodino.  The  work  is  in  the 
best  Renaissance  style,  now  somewhat  dam- 
aged and  in  places  coarsely  patched,  but 
still  betraying  the  touch  of  a  real  master. 
Rahn  calls  it  "  the  finest  fagade  on  Swiss 
soil."* 

Farther  south,  the  shores  of  Lago  Mag- 
giore  grow  more  beautiful  every  time  the 
steamer  makes  a  stop,  more  Oriental  with 
olive,  pomegranate,  and  myrtle  trees.  The 
N\Titer  would  like  to  stray  down  to  the  rich 

*  Rahn,  J.   Rudolf.      Kunst  und  Wanderstudien 

aus  der  Schweiz.     Vienna.     18S3.     p.  164. 


234  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

glories  that  are  suggested  by  the  name  of  the 
Borromean  Islands, — of  Pallanza,  Strcsa, 
Laveno,  etc.;  but  unfortunately  the  Swiss 
frontier  does  not  extend  farther  south  than 
Brissago,  and  this  book  is  to  be  devoted  to 
Switzerland.  But  we  can  take  our  revenge 
by  turning  aside  to  Lugano,  which  is  quite 
capable  of  holding  its  own,  even  amid  the 
blandishments  of  its  Italian  neighbors. 

The  guide-books  are  not  far  wrong  when 
they  speak  of  Lugano  as  a  miniature 
Naples.  Its  curving  line  of  quays  sweeps 
around  a  gulf  of  pure  azure  ;  white  houses 
sun  themselves  in  amphitheatre,  as  though 
sitting  for  a  spectacle ;  and  a  wreath  of 
villas  is  thrown  out  upon  the  country-side. 
With  a  little  indulgence  on  the  part  of 
travellers,  San  Salvatore  can  even  masque- 
rade as  a  small  Vesuvius,  without  smoke. 
No  wonder  they  call  one  of  the  lakeside 
suburbs  "  Paradise."  The  people,  too,  have 
a  certain  Italian  suppleness  of  mind  and 
manner,  that  comes  from  being  much  out- 
of-doors  under  the  kindly  sun.  At  the 
caf(5s,  they  prefer  to  sit  around  little  tables 
on  the  pavement,  where  a  few  orange-trees 


LUGANO.  233 

in  pots  make  a  pretence  of  seclusion  from 
the  street.  They  will  spend  hours  there, 
noisy  and  gesticulating  over  their  harmless 
drinks. 

The  temperament  of  the  Ticinese  is 
Italian,  but  with  a  difference.  A  little  of 
that  Swiss  sourness,  which  somehow  comes 
with  the  sordid  struggle  in  the  Alps,  has 
filtered  down  the  mountains,  and  sobered 
their  natural  expansiveness.  Perhaps  they 
are  all  the  more  reliable  for  this  reason. 
Their  century  of  self-government,  too,  has 
given  them  a  wholesome  self-respect;  and, 
though  their  Canton  is  still  indulgently 
regarded  by  Teutonic  Swiss  neighbors  as 
the  bad  boy  in  the  family  of  the  Confed- 
eration, they  are  not  devoid  of  a  good  deal 
of  political  common-sense.  Their  love  of 
the  native  soil  soon  lures  them  back  from 
foreign  countries,  to  which  necessity  makes 
them  emigrate  in  great  numbers.  Whether 
selling  roast  chestnuts  on  the  streets  of 
Paris,  or  working  in  the  vineyards  of  Cali- 
fornia, they  invariably  look  forward  at  last 
to  a  home  on  their  own  native  slopes. 

Lugano  has  profited  enormously  by  the 
St.    Gothard  Railroad.     It   is   now  as   pro- 


2^6  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

gressive  as  Locarno  is  reactionary.  Not 
only  has  it  become  a  favorite  winter  resort, 
but  it  also  boasts  of  several  flourishing 
industries,  and  its  shops  are  certainly  well 
supplied. 

Rahn  has  truly  said,  "  At  no  time  has 
Switzerland  been  a  land  prominent  in 
art."  *  But  Ticino  deserves  in  a  measure 
to  stand  as  an  exception  to  this  sweeping 
judgment.  Some  of  its  churches  contain 
art  treasures  of  great  value.  Rahn  cites, 
for  example,  a  fresco  in  the  village  of  Ponte 
Capriasca,  above  Taverne.  It  is  an  ancient 
copy  of  Lionardo  da  Vinci's  "  Last  Sup- 
per," so  nobly  done  and  well  preserved  that 
Giuseppe  Bossi  thought  it  worth  special 
study,  when  he  accepted  the  delicate  task 
of  restoring  the  original  "Last  Supper" 
in  Milan. 

In  Lugano  itself,  Bernardino  Luini  has 
left  us  some  of  his  very  best  work,  upon 
the  walls  of  S.  Maria  degli  Angioli,  —  a 
"  Passion  "  in  three  sections,  a  "  Last 
Supper,"  and  a  widely  known  Madonna. 
Luini  was  essentially  a  fresco  painter,  and 

*  Rahn,  J.  Rudolf.  Kunst  und  Wanderstudien 
aus  der  Schwciz.     Vienna.     1S83.     P-  ?• 


LUGANO.  237 

in  this  capacity  was  unsurpassed  for  the 
brilliancy  and  purity  of  his  scale  of  colors. 
In  composition,  he  was,  however,  inferior  to 
Da  Vinci,  being  an  idyllic,  rather  than  a 
dramatic,  genius.  He  was  most  successful 
as  the  interpreter  of  naive  grace,  of  ten- 
der, youthful  joy.  The  Cathedral  of  San 
Lorenzo  has  a  costly  marble  facade,  and  a 
pretty  poor  fountain  statue  of  William  Tell, 
by  Vincenzo  Vela,  a  sculptor  of  local  repu- 
tation, adorns  the  quay.  As  for  the  rest, 
the  interior  of  the  town  is  quaintly  arcaded 
and  paved  in  large  blocks,  Italian  fashion. 

Of  an  evening,  in  the  mellow  half-lights 
of  May,  when  the  season  is  at  its  height, 
the  quay  becomes  the  promenade  of  cosmo- 
politan crowds.  The  hotel  tables  d'Jiote 
have  spun  their  weary  courses  to  an  end, 
and  dismissed  the  chatting  guests  into  the 
open  air.  The  native  Ticinese  come  from 
their  villas  on  the  outskirts,  or  their  dark 
houses  in  the  town,  to  show  themselves  by 
the  water-side,  strolling  in  family  groups,  or 
as  dapper  dandies  in  gaudy  neckties.  It 
is  a  hash  of  nationalities,  flavored  with  a 
little  Italian  garlic.  In  the  summer,  other 
hotel-keepers  will  stir  this  same  mixture  on 


.:3s  KOMAN'CE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  quay  of  Luzern  with  a  sprinkling  of 
Swiss  cheese. 

The  lake  of  Lugano  is  altogether  on  a 
less  imposing  scale  than  Maggiore  and 
Como;  its  banks  are  more  uniform,  less 
opulent  and  Oriental,  but  its  windings  are 
delightfully  wayward.  If  you  decide  to 
return  to  Switzerland  across  the  .Mps,  go 
by  way  of  Porlezza,  at  the  end  of  the  east- 
ern arm  of  the  lake,  thence  to  Menaggio, 
and  up  the  Lake  of  Como  to  Chiavenna. 
Even  before  you  have  reached  Porlezza, 
however,  you  will  have  left  Switzerland. 

Under  the  hollow  pretence  of  acting  as 
guide,  I  must  accompany  you  to  Menaggio 
for  the  view. 

It  is  there  that  Bellagio  is  seen,  crouch- 
ing upon  the  tongue  of  land  which  divides 
the  lake  of  Como  into  two  parts,  a  glisten- 
ing miracle  amid  fairy  bowers  ;  Cadenabbia 
on  the  hither  side,  less  theatrical  in  appear- 
ance, but  rejoicing  in  lovelier  gardens: 
white-walled  Varenna  opposite;  Tremezzo  ; 
and  all  the  other  places,  where  couples 
spend  their  honeymoons,  or  lovers  make 
arrangements  for  future  ones.  Tliere  are 
secluded    stretches    along    this    lake    that 


LUGANO.  239 

neither  railroad  nor  carriage-road  has 
touched  as  yet.  A  cobbled  foot-path 
leads  from  village  to  hamlet,  rising  and 
falling  with  the  nature  of  the  shore,  skirt- 
ing cliffs  by  means  of  terraces,  creeping 
between  walled  vineyards,  and  crossing 
chasms  on  vaulted  bridges. 

Of  course,  all  this  is  in  Italy,  and  by 
rights  ought  not  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
book. 

Let  me  just  urge  you  to  notice  the  olive- 
orchards  in  spring,  —  the  gray-green  of  the 
leaves  against  the  pink  almond-blossoms. 
Was  there  ever  a  harmony  so  tender,  so 
subtle!  And  the  gardens,  radiant  with 
waxen  camellias,  pure  white  and  scarlet; 
thickets  of  flowering  rhododendron;  laven- 
der wistaria,  caressing  yellow  house-walls; 
sombre  verdure  stretching  up  to  naked 
rocks  and  crests ;  oranges  and  lemons 
ripening  in  sunny  corners,  —  you  will  not 
find  their  like  elsewhere.  Then  do  not 
overlook  the  amusing  little  jetties  and  har- 
bors, the  awninged  boats,  and  the  magic 
mystery  of  the  water.  Listen  to  the  dirge- 
like singing  of  the  boatmen.  Breathe  deeply 
of  the  scented  air,  crush  the  violets  in  your 


240  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

palm,  and  wait  at  dusk  for  the  first  ten- 
tative trills  of  the  nightingale,  that  you 
may  carry  away  in  all  your  senses  the 
delights  of  that  thrice-blessed  region. 

There  is  no  place  in  the  world  where  it 
is  so  easy  to  become  idiotically  sentimental 
as  on  the  lake  of  Como. 

And  yet  the  writer  has  one  slight  excuse 
for  lingering  on  the  lake  of  Como,  for  on 
the  way  up  to  Colico  to  connect  with  the 
train  for  Chiavenna,  the  boat  stops  at 
Dongo.  Nearly  above  the  village  of 
Musso,  upon  precipitous  cliffs,  are  perched 
the  ruins  of  three  castles.  From  1525  to 
1 53 1,  they  were  held  by  a  condottiere, 
Giovanni  Giacomo  Medici,  a  charming 
villain  with  a  fine  name  and  of  obscure 
ancestry.  By  posing  as  the  representative 
of  the  Dukes  of  Milan,  this  enterprising 
robber  managed  to  bring  the  whole  lake 
into  subjection,  and  then  began  to  trouble 
his  neighbors  in  Graubiinden.  The  latter 
appealed  for  help  to  the  Swiss  Confederates. 
Now,  at  this  moment,  the  Catholic  and 
Protestant  parties  in  Switzerland  were 
facing  each  other  in  a  sullen,  suspicious 
mood,    waiting    for    an    excuse   to   renew 


LUGANO.  241 

hostilities.  When  this  call  for  help  was 
rejected  by  the  Catholic  cantons,  the 
Protestants  immediately  suspected  them  of 
sympathizing  with  the  condottiere.  In  fact, 
this  worthless  plunderer  actually  became 
the  cause  of  the  so-called  second  war  of 
Kappel.  The  Protestants  precipitated  a 
contest  upon  utterly  unfounded  suspicions, 
were  badly  beaten  in  a  pitched  battle,  and 
Zwingli  himself  left  dead  upon  the  field. 

Chiavenna  (Italian,  chiave)  is  the  key  that 
will  unlock  the  marvels  of  Graubiinden. 
There  are  two  key-holes,  the  Spliigen  and 
the  Maloja  passes,  and  they  lead  to  Chur 
and  the  Engadine. 


16 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CHUR    AND   THE   ENGADINE. 

BEFORE  the  Romans  conquered  the 
territory  now  known  as  Switzerland, 
it  was  inhabited  by  a  conglomeration  of 
hostile  tribes,  for  the  most  part  of  Celtic 
origin.  But  the  valleys  of  the  eastern 
Alps,  comprising  the  modern  Canton  of 
Graubiinden  and  the  Tyrol,  were  in  pos- 
session of  the  Raeti,  of  mixed  Latin  and 
Etruscan  stock.  It  is  the  subjugation  of 
the  latter  by  Tiberius  and  Drusus,  the 
step-sons  of  Emperor  Augustus,  which 
Horace  celebrates  in  a  famous  ode.  At  the 
time  of  the  Teutonic  invasion  of  the  Roman 
empire,  Raetia  received  a  certain  number 
of  German-speaking  immigrants,  and  in  the 
tenth  century  was  used  for  awhile  as  a 
basis  of  operations  by  the  Saracen  brigands 
who  made  Europe  unsafe. 

During    the    Middle   Ages     Raetia     was 
divided    into    feudal    fragments    similar   to 


CHUR    AND   THE   ENGADINE.  243 

those  which  characterized  Switzerland  in 
general.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  century  that  the  various 
ecclesiastical  and  secular  rulers  united 
with  the  communities  of  free  peasants 
to  form  a  loose  confederation,  which 
became  known  as  the  Gray  League,  or 
Graubiinden.  This  league  often  co-oper- 
ated with  the  Swiss  Confederation  in  mat- 
ters of  foreign  policy,  as  a  trusted  ally, 
but  maintained  its  independence  and  lived 
its  own  life. 

In  1797,  the  Val  Tellina  (German  Vcltlin) 
which  was  a  subject-land  of  Graubiinden, 
broke  away,  with  Napoleon's  permission,  to 
join  the  newly  created  Cisalpine  Republic. 
Next  year,  the  French  invaded  Switzerland 
and  erected  the  short-lived  Helvetic  Repub- 
lic. Then  came  the  terrible  summer  of 
1799,  when  Switzerland  and  Graubiinden 
became  the  battleground  of  Europe,  a  prey 
to  vast  French,  Russian,  and  Austrian 
armies.  In  the  general  remodeUing  of 
States  which  followed  in  1803,  Graubiinden 
became  a  canton  of  the  Swiss  Confedera- 
tion, in  accordance  with  Napoleon's  Act  of 
Mediation. 


244  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Chur  is  strangely  primitive  for  the 
capital  of  the  largest  of  the  Swiss  cantons. 
There  are  some  new  houses  in  the  direction 
of  the  railroad  station,  but  the  town  itself  is 
ancient  and  shabby,  with  happy-go-lucky, 
narrow  streets. 

What  is  known  as  the  Episcopal  Court 
occupies  high  ground.  Here  the  cathedral 
of  St.  Lucius  and  the  bishop's  palace  face 
upon  a  square,  adorned  with  a  fountain, 
the  whole  quarter  being  surrounded  with 
walls,  so  that  its  general  appearance  is 
quite  like  that  of  a  fortress.  Two  towers 
are  called,  in  local  speech,  Marsoel  and 
Spinoel ;  that  is,  in  Latin,  Mars  in  oculis 
and  Spina  in  oculis,  which  practically 
means  that  the  Romans  had  to  keep  a 
sharp  eye  on  their  conquered  Raeti.  It 
is  pleasant  to  know  that  you  can  now 
drink  a  glass  of  wine,  and  enjoy  the  view 
from  the  tower  of  Spinoel,  regardless  of  the 
Romans. 

The  place  is  marked  on  Roman  charts 
as  Curia.  Its  bishopric  is  first  mentioned 
in  the  acts  of  a  Synod  of  Milan,  in  452 ; 
but  there  is  the  legend  of  a  missionary,  a 
certain  Saint  Lucius,  from  Britain,  who  is 


CHUR    AND    THE    EXGADINE.  245 

supposed  to  have  established  himself  here 
at  an  earlier  time.  It  is  impossible  to 
determine  what  kernel  of  truth  the  tra- 
dition may  contain ;  at  the  same  time,  the 
name  of  the  saint  has  been  connected  with 
Chur,  practically  since  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  into  that  region. 

The  cathedral  is  extremely  curious,  with- 
out being  exactly  beautiful.  An  ancient 
stone  portal  consists  of  columns  reposing 
on  lions'  backs,  after  the  fashion  of  so 
many  early  entrances  and  pulpits.  Within, 
there  is  a  succession  of  styles,  Roman- 
esque predominating,  but  the  whole  is  too 
crude  to  be  more  than  interesting.  The 
treasury  is  said  to  be  very  rich,  and  to  con- 
tain charters  granted  by  Charlemagne. 

A  peculiar  feature  of  Chur  is  the  moun- 
tain-torrent of  the  Plessur,  which  flows 
rapidly  through  the  town,  in  a  deep,  walled 
cut,  and  empties  itself  into  the  young 
Rhine  in  the  plain  beyond.  Opposite, 
rises  the  solemn,  slate-colored  range  of  the 
Calanda.  A  hillock,  just  outside  the  town, 
on  the  Julier  Road,  the  Rosenhiigel,  has 
been  prettily  laid  out  as  a  park  and  point 
of  view.     When  the  annual  drills  are  on, 


246  ROMANCE    SWITZERLAND. 

the  long  white  barracks  on  the  road  to 
Ems  are  full  of  dark-blue  militia-men;  and 
every  Sunday  morning  they  march  to  the 
cathedral  for  early  Mass,  unarmed,  with 
bands  playing. 

On  the  whole,  the  people  are  somewhat 
better-looking  than  in  German  Switzerland. 
The  prevailing  type  is  black-haired  and 
strong-eyed,  cretins  being  rarely  seen. 
German  is  gradually  supplanting  the  old 
Romansch  language  ;  still  one  would  say 
that  some  of  the  beautiful  pronunciations 
of  the  Latin  survive,  for  the  German  that 
is  spoken  in  Chur  is  far  pleasanter  than 
that  of  other  parts  of  Switzerland. 

The  Raetian  Museum  may  be  recom- 
mended to  those  who  have  time  to  spare 
for  sight-seeing;  not  so  much  on  account  of 
the  portraits  of  local  worthies,  and  the 
collection  of  stained  glass  and  coins,  as 
for  a  really  remarkable  Dance  of  Death, 
This  consists  of  seventeen  frescos,  after 
designs  made  by  Holbein,  which  were  cut 
from  the  walls  of  the  Episcopal  Palace. 
There  are  also  some  rare  inscriptions  on 
stone,  in  the  undeciphered  language  of  the 
Lepontii,  a  tribe  of  Ligurian  origin,  which 


CHUR   AND   THE   ENGADINE.  247 

occupied  Ticino  before  the  advent  of  the 
Romans. 

Chur  is,  of  course,  an  important  starting- 
point  for  several  passes,  notably  the  Julier 
and  Spliigen.  The  railroad  that  comes  up 
the  Rhine  Valley  stops  here ;  and  if  you 
speak  to  the  people  of  the  advantage  of 
carrying  it  farther,  say,  over  to  Chiavenna, 
they  urge  that  their  town  would  thereby 
cease  to  be  a  stopping-place,  and  become 
one  merely  of  transit. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  main  stream  of 
travellers  pours  from  Landquart  to  Davos, 
and  up  to  the  highlands  of  the  Engadine. 

Imagine  a  long  valley,  about  six  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  sea-level,  with  hardly 
a  turn  for  sixty  miles.  It  is  the  top  of 
many  passes,  a  region  almost  treeless  and 
untilled,  but  full  of  villages  and  health- 
resorts.  During  the  long  winter,  it  is  the 
haunt  of  invalids;  its  short-lived  summer  is 
gay  with  a  rush  of  tourists,  for  a  silent 
atmosphere,  bracing  and  life-giving,  reigns 
almost  undisturbed  throughout  the  year. 

In  1862,  the  local  practitioner  of  Davos, 
Dr.    Spengler,    published   a   paper    in    the 


248  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

Deutsche  Klinik,  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  phthisis  was  unknown  in  the  Enga- 
dine,  and  that  the  Davosers  who  had  con- 
tracted pulmonary  diseases  elsewhere,  were 
quickly  cured  upon  their  return.  Three 
years  after,  a  German  physician.  Dr. 
Unger,  and  a  friend  of  his,  both  consump- 
tives, decided  to  test  the  effect  of  the 
climate  upon  themselves.  They  were  soon 
cured ;  and  thus  arose  the  remarkable 
winter-season  treatment  at  Davos. 

Medicines  are  practically  discarded,  for 
mountain  air  and  sunshine  are  counted 
upon  to  effect  the  cures.  Exercise  and 
good  food  are  necessary  supplements. 
The  snow  lies  for  about  seven  months, 
and  the  thermometer  often  falls  far 
below  zero  (Fahrenheit).  And  yet  con- 
sumptives can  go  sleigh-riding  and  to- 
bogganing, walk  under  the  falling  snow, 
or  sit  upon  their  balconies  in  the  sun- 
shine. The  worst  winds  are  practically 
excluded  from  Davos,  and  so  the  cold  is 
clear  and  dry.  Of  course,  life  is  neces- 
sarily somewhat  monotonous  in  those  alti- 
tudes, in  spite  of  every  effort  made  by 
hotel    proprietors.       One    must    bring    re- 


,>■-'■'  ■ 

■''■ 

Mk    ^1 

/ 1 : , 

mi 

1 

• 

t 

1 

^ 

1 

i 

'  _     ! 

CHUR   AND    THE    ENGADIXE.  249 

sources  within  one's  self,  to  winter  in 
the  Engadine.  Then,  when  the  spring 
comes,  with  its  melting  snows  and  impas- 
sable roads,  invalids  are  obliged  to  descend 
to  Montreux,  Lugano,  or  some  Italian  resort. 
The  change  to  a  moist,  relaxing  atmosphere 
is  generally  very  trying  to  them. 

Agriculture  does  not  really  exist  in  the 
Engadine,  but  the  pastures  are  particu- 
larly in  demand.  From  time  immemorial, 
the  inhabitants  have  let  them  to  Berga- 
mesque  shepherds,  who  come  up  from  the 
Italian  side  every  summer,  bronzed,  and 
clad  in  dirty  sheepskins, — primitive  and 
Pan-like  beings,  that  seem  to  be  survivors 
of  an  aboriginal  race.  When  the  hay  is 
not  gathered  and  bought  by  the  Italians, 
you  may  come  across  many  a  pretty  native 
scene.  The  people  work  in  the  distinctive 
costumes  of  their  district ;  the  men  wield 
the  hay  forks,  the  women  the  rakes.  Their 
natural  attitudes  are  full  of  meaning  to 
the  sculptor.  One  wonders  how  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Engadine  occupied  their  time 
before  the  advent  of  hotels.  Many  of 
them,  however,  emigrate  to  various  parts  of 
Europe,  to  make   money  as  confectioners 


250  ROMANCE   SWITZERLAND. 

and  restaurant-keepers.  When  they  have 
amassed  enough,  they  return  to  their  lofty 
valley,  and  spend  the  rest  of  their  days  in 
comfort. 

Any  land  which  has  had  the  late  John 
Addington  Symonds  for  a  constant  guest 
and  admirer,  may  well  consider  itself  for- 
tunate. This  warm-hearted  and  versatile 
man  of  letters  spent  the  better  part  of 
thirteen  years  in  the  Engadine,  fighting 
against  the  encroachment  of  disease.  Dur- 
ing that  time,  he  published  twenty  odd 
volumes,  principally  upon  art,  and  the  his- 
tory of  art.  In  1892,  he  issued  "Our  Life 
in  the  Swiss  Highlands,"  in  collaboration 
with  his  daughter  Margaret.  After  Sy- 
monds's  valuable  and  true  picture  of  life 
in  the  Engadine,  the  writer  feels  that  there 
is  but  little  for  him  to  say.  The  book  is 
an  account  of  experiences  and  excursions, 
containing  much  information  about  the 
history  of  the  district  and  the  character 
of  the  people.  Symonds  took  a  vital 
personal  interest  in  the  doings  of  his 
Alpine  neighbors.  He  learned  to  know 
them  intimately. 

"Good-breeding,"  he  writes  of  them,  "a 


CHUR    AND   THE    ENGADINE.  25I 

high  average  of  inteUigence,  active  poli- 
tical instincts,  manliness,  and  sense  of 
personal  freedom,  are  conspicuous,  even 
among  the  poorer  peasants.  Nowhere,  I 
take  it,  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  have 
republican  institutions  and  republican  vir- 
tues developed  more  favorably.  Nowhere 
is  the  social  atmosphere  of  a  democracy 
more  agreeable  at  the  present  moment. 
What  I  have  learned  from  my  Graubiinden 
comrades,  and  what  I  owe  to  them,  cannot 
be  here  described  in  full.  But  their  com- 
panionship has  become  an  essential  ingre- 
dient in  my  life,  —  a  healthy  and  refreshing 
relief  from  solitary  studies  and  incessant 
quill-driving." 

How  long  the  local  character  will  be 
able  to  retain  these  republican  virtues 
depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  industrial 
future  of  the  Engadine.  Political  and 
social  equality  are  based  upon  economic 
equality.  If  the  marvellous  growth  of 
hotel-keeping  and  kindred  occupations 
should  by  any  chance  enrich  a  few  men, 
at  the  expense  of  the  rest,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  present  republican  virtues  will 
cease  to  have  any  meaning.     Nothing  short 


252  ROMAN'CE   SWITZERLAND. 

of  some  arrangement  by  which  the  right  of 
all  the  inhabitants  to  the  natural  opportu- 
nities of  the  valley  can  be  safeguarded, 
will  enable  the  Engadine  to  weather, 
unharmed,  the  extraordinary  tide  of  popu- 
larity by  which  it  has  been  visited- 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 

A. 

Page 

Aar 155,  156,  157,  160 

Affry,  Count  Charles 164 

Agassiz 68,  146,  154-158,  210,  214 

Aigle 190 

Alabama  Chamber 8 

Aiamanni 125 

Albergeux,  Luce  des •     '75 

Albinen 209 

Aletsch  Glacier 216 

Ameaux 61 

Amiel 34)  35-  74-So 

Anderegg 215 

Anker 147 

Armatlii no,  1S5,  1S7 

Ascona 233 

Auvernier •     '45 

Avenches  (Aventicum) 123-128,  135 

B. 

Bachelin 147 

Ball 215 

Balland,  M 174,  175 

Balmat,  Jacques 22-25,  ^9,  68 

Bancroft,  George     ..,.,....      63-64 


256  INDEX. 

Pace 

Baron 177 

Belalp 215 

Bellagio 238 

Bellerive 2,  84 

Bellevue 6g,  83 

Bellinzona 226-228 

Benen,  Johann 215 

Benichons 183 

Bergamesque  shepherds 249 

Bern     .       112,  116,  118,  131,  132,  136,  160,  179,  181 

Berthier 122,  142 

Berthoud,  A.  H 147 

Bex 190 

Bienne,  Lake  of 37,  126,  137 

Bise I,  2,  84,  115 

Blonay 89-91,  129 

Bonivard 13)  93 

Bonnet,  Charles 69,  70 

Bonstetten 53.  55>  S5,  86 

Borrani,  Casa 233 

Borromean  Islands 234 

Bourrit,  Marc  Theodore 69,  70 

Bouveret = 92 

Bovy,  M.  Daniel 174,  176 

Bovy,  M.  Frangois 174 

Bresse,  Corsaut  de 90-91 

Brig  or  Brieg 211 

Brissago 234 

Broglie,  Duchesse  de 45 

Broughton m 

Broye,  Valley  of  the 117-124 


INDEX.  257 

PAGB 

Bubenberg,  Von 134 

Bulle 170,  171,  172 

Bure,  Idelette  de 58 

Burgundy,  Charles  the  Bold  of  .     .     .    128,  131-136 
Burgundy,  Transjurane   86,112, 119-122,143,178, 195 

Burkhard  I.  of  Alamannia 119 

Byron 82,  88,  93 

c. 

Cadenabbia 238 

Cassar,  Julius 21,  85,  116 

Calame 147 

Calanda 245 

Calvin i,  6,  7,  8,  10,  57-67,  98 

Carnot 85-86 

Castello  di  Corbario 228 

Castello  di  Ferro 231-232 

Castello  di  Mezzo 228 

Castello  Grande 228 

Celigny 71 

Cernier 145 

Chablais 86,  89 

Chalamala,  Girard 179-1  So,  183 

Chamonix 22,  23,  2;.  26 

Champel,  Place  de 58,  66 

Champ6ry 191,  192,  193 

Chaponni^re 11 

Charlemagne 245 

Charpentier 155 

Chateau  d'Aile 89 

Chateaux  d'Oex 178,  190 

IT 


258  INDEX. 

Page 

Chaucer 130 

Chaumont 137 

Chiavenna 238,240,241,247 

Chillon 86,  88,  93 

Chur ^     .     .     .        244-247 

"  Cigognier  " i2(j 

Cisalpine  Republic 243 

Ciseri 230 

Clarens 79i  91 

Como,  Lake  of 238-240 

Confignon 31 

Constant,  Benjamin So-S'j  52,  54 

Coolidge,  Rev.  W.  A.  B 211 

Cooper,  Fenimore 108 

Coppet,  Chateau  at     44-46,  49,  51,  52,  53,  54,  55,  84 

Coraule c     182 

Corot     ..............     176 

Cortaillod .     148 

Cossonay 117 

Cretins 189,  246 

Croz,  Michel 215,  217-221 

D. 
Daudet 93 

Davel,  Major 98,  116 

Davos 247-249 

De  la  Rive 9 

D6Iices,  Les .39i  40 

Dent  du  Midi 169,  191 

De  Saussure 9;  22,  25,  35,  68,  71,  210 

De  Sellon 9 


INDEX.  259 

I'AGE 

Desor 146,156,158,210,214 

Don  Carlos 113 

Douglas,  Lord  Francis 217-221 

Drusus .     242 

Dubois 147 

Dufour II 

Dumas,  Alexandre     22,  42,  S7,  93,  126,  138,  159,  201 

E. 

ECUBLENS 118 

Eggishorn 215 

Ems 246 

Engadine 241,  247-252 

Estavayer,  Gerard  of 130 

Evian 87 

F. 

Faoug 135 

Farel 58,  65,  66,  98,  140-141 

Fazy,  M.  Henri 19,  61,  62 

Fazy,  James 74 

Fellenberg 163 

Ferney 40.  41-42 

Fiesch  or  Viesch 205 

Finhaut 196-197 

Finsteraarhorn 214,  223 

Forbes 156,  210,  214 

Frangais 177 

Frederick  the  Great      .     ......     .      36,  39 

Fribourg 118,  136,  159  167,  179,  181 

Furka 212 


26o  INDEX. 

G. 

PAGE 

Gemmi  Pass 205 

Geneva       ....     1-19,  30,  39,  42,  57,  82,  91,  94 

Genthod 69 

Gerard 46 

Gibbon,  Edward 46,  103-105 

Giornico 226 

Girard,  Pere  Gr6goire 163-164 

Glion 91,  92 

Godet,  Philippe 41,  141,  152 

Goethe 17,  53 

Gottsponer,  Pfarrer 211 

Grandson 98,  128-132 

Graubiinden 240,  241,  242-252 

Gregory  X.,  Pope .       98 

Grimsel      ~     .     .     „ 155,  212 

Griiet    .     • „     .       60 

Gruyere  or  Gruyeres      86,  92,  168,  169,  170,  171-187 

Guizot 53 

Giimminen 135 

Guyot 154,  156,  157-158,  214 

H. 

Habsburg-Austria 98,  116,  128 

Hadow 217-221 

Hannibal 21 

Hardy 215 

Haussonville,  Comtesse  d'     ......     .       45 

Haut  Cret 108 

Helvetic  Ke))iiblic 243 


INDEX.  261 

Page 
Helvetic  Revolution    ,    .    .    .    ,    ,    .       112, 190 

Helvetii 21,  116,  124 

Heremence »    204 

Kerens e.     204 

Herschel,  Sir  John 210 

Holbein 246 

Horace ,     .     242 

Hotel  des  Neuchatelois 156 

Howells,  Mr 2,  10,  19,  loi,  J02 

Hudson 215, 217-221 

Hugo,  Victor iji  93 

h 

Janssen,  M, 26-27 

Jomini,  Henri     ..,,,..,     »     122-123,  132 
Jorat,  Mont    .,..,.,,,...       87 

Joux,  Mont    ..o,., 201 

Julier  Road    ..,.,.,.,...     245 
Julius  n,,  Pope      ....,,...,     206 

Jungfrau 214,  222,  223 

Jupiter  Poeninus      -     .     , .     201 

Jura .    2,  84,  137,  148,  153 

Jura,  Correchon  des  Eaux  du 37 

K. 

Kappel,  War  of 241 

Kennedy 215 

Kirk,  J.  F ,     .     .  132 

Kirsch  ....,...,,,,..  196 

Kiihreihen 184 


262  INDEX. 

L. 

Page 

La  Bellotte 84 

La  Chaux-de-Fonds 14S 

La  Cote 96 

Lago  Maggiore        226,  22S,  233 

Laharpe,  Frederic  Cesar ,     ,      S6,  98 

La  Lance i^i 

Lanibercier 31 

Landquart 247 

La  Sarraz 117 

Lauber,  Dr.   .  271 

Lausanne  ...       iS,  39,  S7-SS,  91,  95,  96,  97-105 

Leleux 177 

Le  Locle    ... 14S 

Leman,  Lake S2-94,  11 8,  13S 

Leponti , 246 

Les  Avants 91 

Libertines 59)  62 

Locarno 22S-233.  236 

Loeche  or  Leuk 205-209 

Lombroso 3~~3S 

Lucens ..iiS 

Ludlow Ill,  112 

Lugano 228,  234-23S,  249 

Lugano,  Lake  of 23S 

Luini,  Bernardino   .........  236-237 

M. 

MacDoxald     ...         215 

Madonna  del  Sasso 229-230 


INDEX.  263 

PAGE 

Magyars 120 

Majoria 203 

!^^allet-Dupan,  Jacques 70-71 

Maloja  Pass 241 

Marcello    (Duchesse   Adele    Colonna    de    Cas- 

tiglione-Aldebrandini)     ....    163,  164-165 

Marignano 206 

JMartigny  .,.,...    124,  196,  197-19S,  201 
Massacre  of  the  Swiss  Guard     ......     164 

Matterhorn     ,..,.....    210,  214-221 

Maximianus,  Emperor 194 

Medici,  Giovanni  Giacomo 240 

jNIenaggio  .     „ 238 

Menn 177 

Merjelen,  Lake  of    ....     , 216 

Mermeillod,  Cardinal 206 

Milan,  Dukes  of 227,  240 

Milton,  John  .     .  17 

Moleson,  Mount 171 

Monnier,  Marc 80-Si 

Monrion 39,  103 

Montbenon , loi 

Mont  Blanc 3,  20-29,  94,  13S,  215 

Monte  Rosa 214,  215 

Monthey 191 

Montolieu,  Madame  de 104 

Montreux 88,91-92,  114,  190,  249 

Morat         .     .     .     .117,  127,  128,  132-136,  162,  178 

Morat,  Lake 126,  137,  154 

Morges 86 

Metiers 36 


264  INDEX. 

Page 

M6tiers-en-Vully 154 

Moudon     .,, .....118 

Miiller,  Johann  von 53 

Miillibach  ........>....     20^ 

Muralto 232 

Museum  in  Chur 246-247 

Museums  in  Geneva 9-10 

Museums  in  Lausanne 100 

Museum  in  Neuchatel      ,     .     .     .     .     146-147,  153 
Musso  ..............     240 

N. 
Napoleon  Bonaparte      30,  51,  52,  54,  106,  122, 

123,  135.  '42,  199,  243 

Nattfs 42 

Xaye,  Rochers  de 93 

Xecker 9,  44,  46,  48,  103-104 

Necker  de  Saussure,  Madame 50 

Negaiifs 36,  42 

Neocomian ....13S 

Neuchatel  .........     18,  36,  137-1 58 

Neuchatel,  Lake  of 126,  128 

Novara 206 

Nyon 2,  85-86 

O. 
Ober  Gabelhorn     .........    217 

Ogo  or  Hochgau 177,  178 

Orbe 117 

Orelli - 232 

Ormonts-Dessus      ,     .     . 190 


INDEX.  265 

PAGE 

Oron 118 

Ouchy 88,97 

P. 

Paccard,  Dr.  .    ,    .    .    , 23-24 

Pal6zieux 118 

Patriots 59)  62 

Pavillard 103 

Payerne I19-123 

Peilz,  Tour  de 89 

Perrin,  Ami 60 

Pestalozzi ,   35,  163 

Petit-Mulet 23 

Petitot 16 

Pis^evache 196 

Phelps,  John 112 

Plessur 245 

Ponte  Capriasca 236 

Ponverre,  M.  de 31 

Porlezza 23S 

Pourtales,  de 146,  156 

Prangins 84 

Pro  Aventico.,  Society  of  o 126 

R. 

Raeti 124, 242 

Rahn     ., 233,  236 

Ranz  des  Vaches Iio,  184-187 

Rawyl ,     .     .     204 

Recamier,  Madame  ....,,..    45,  52,  53 
Refere7idum 166 


266  INDEX. 

PACB 

Eepreseniants 36,  42 

Rhine 245,  247 

Rhone I,  4,  92,  189,  212 

Rhone  Glacier 212-213 

Riviera 226 

Rocca,  Albert  de 54>  55 

Rod,  Edouard 13 

Kolle 86, 96 

Romans     21,  97,  108,  I18,  I?3-I28,  193,  194,  201, 
205,  210,  242,  244 

Romansch 246 

Romont 118,  167-170 

Rosenhligel r.    245 

Rossel :     ,     105 

Rousseau    3,  8,  10,  30-39,  40,  41,  43,  44,  49,  57,  70, 
79,  104,  105-106,  112,  149,  150 

Rue .118 

Rumine,  Gabriel  de      ........     ^     100 

Ruskin «  .     .     ,     .     ,     210 

S. 
Saint  Lucius  .,.......-    244 

Sal^ve .....         2 

Salvan ....-     196 

Salzman 177 

Sand,  George 93 

Sanetsch 171,  204 

San  Lorenzo  in  Lugano .    237 

San  Salvatore 234 

Saracens 120 

Sarine 160,  187 


INDEX. 


Savoy 

Scherer,  M.  Edmond  .     . 
Schiller      ...... 

Schinner,  Cardinal  Mathew 
Schlegel     ...... 


bequam       .     .     . 
Serodino,  Giovanni 
Serrieres,  Gorge  de  . 
Servetus     ,     .     .     . 
Shelley  .     . 

Sierra   .     .     .     .     . 
Simmenthal    .     .     . 
Simplon     .     .     . 
Sion      r     ,     .     .     . 


Sismondi   .... 
S.  Maria  degli  Angioh 
Sorel,  Albert        ,     .     , 
Spengler,  Dr.  ,     , 

Spliigen     .... 
Stael,  Augusta  de    ,     , 
Stael,  Madame  de    .     . 
Stael-Holstein.  Baron  . 
St.  Antoine,  College  of 
St.  Bernard.  Great        .     too, 
St.  Bernard  de  Menthon 
Stelvio  Pass    .... 
St.  Gotiiard    .... 
St.  Martin  in  Vevey 
St.  Maurice    .... 
St.  Nicholas  in  F"ribour? 


267 

Pack 
2j  15,  20,  89,  92 

76,78 


•      53 
205-206 

^      53 
.     142 

-    233 

.    14S 

58,  64-67 

S2,  93 

.     204 

112,  204 

199,  201,  211 

203,  226 

.    20^ 

n-72,  75 

.     236 

55>  55~5^ 

247 

241,  247 

40 

30,44-56,  104 
4S,  5:1 


[24, 


195 


197 


19S-20; 


225.  235 

III,  113 

193-195 

j6i 


268  INDi 

St.  Peter  in  Geneva 

St.  Peter,  Island  of       .     . 

St.  Saphorin 

St.  Victor  in  Locarno 

Supersaxo 

Surpierre   . 

Syinonds,  joim  Addington 

T 

T;\RTARIN 

Taugwalder,  Peter  . 

Tell.  \Mlliam,  statue  of 

'I'ete  Noire     .... 

Theodor  or  Theodul,  isishop 

Theodule  Pass 

Thonon 

Tibsrius 

Ticino  .     .     - 

Tissot,  Victor 

Titus     . 

Topffer      .     , 

Tourbillon 

Tournay    .     , 

Tremezzo  . 

Trient,  Gorges  du 

Troistorrents 

Tronchin 

Turimbert,  Count    , 

Turquet  de  Mayern 

Turretini   .... 

Tvndall 


Page 


226. 


V 

88 

231 

^04 

ii9 

.  250- 

-.251 

9.1, 

22L> 

217 

■2^1 

194, 195 


i,  230,  236, 
35. 7 


124 
2-74 


40 


8.  2X0^  2 £4.   3(t 


INDEX-  269 

u 

Page 
Uhland,  the  poet  ..  =  ....,.  183 
Unger,  Dr.     ......     o.,.-     .    248 

V. 

Valajs     ..........    124, 188-213 

Valeria  .  203 

Val  d'Anniviers 204 

Va!  de  Travers    .....,,,.       r-;;,  1^8 

Vald'IIliez igi-193.  197 

Val  Leventina 237 

Vallot,  M 26 


Val  I'ellina 


243 


•-aienna 23S 

V?.'.ll        .        .        2,   86,89,90,95-114,    115,   1(6,    130,    \2l 

Vaux .     .  88,  96,  ic8 

v'ela.  \'incenzo 237 

"•'enetz jr; 

\cinaya?. 156 

'•'e«o''^ 69,84 

Vespasian ,24 

3.  9».  93,  95:  '05-114,  124 
•  .     .  .     190 

V';]!eneuve 9T,  92,  loi,  190 

Villette,  Voiande  de ^j 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da  ..,..,     ,      22,  236,  237 

VioHet-leduc .        '    98 

Viret -      .     .     .  98 

Visp ?io 

Voi^t,  Karl .-5 


Villars 


270  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Voirons  ...         2 

Voltaire 3°.  37,  39-44,  7°,  '03 

Vufflens 86 

Vulliemin .      98 

Vully    .     ,     .     , 133 

W. 

Ward,  Mrs.  HtiMPHREY 78,  79 

Warens,  Madame  de     ,..,,,.     .      32-33 

Weisshorn ..215 

Whymper,  Edward  .     .     .     .     ^      210,  215,  216-221 
Wills .  -     215 

Y. 

YvERDON 35     17 

Yvorne 90 

Z, 

Zaeringen,  Dukes  op .00 

Zermatt 2io-2i»    ,16 

Zurich i     .     .     i     .     .     o     .    30,  233 

Zwingli     ......         ......    241 


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